The next female shoe of interest comes from the wardrobe of Catherine de Medici (2). The long toe has lost its point, and developed into something like a duck’s bill, covered as far as the instep with a piece of silk, on which are worked rosettes of silver lace placed so close as to give the appearance of a metal surface. This shoe is made of white leather, and seems to have lost its ornamentation. Both this example and another of the Sixteenth Century (3) are peculiar in having soles which connect the toe and the heel in the form of a patten. The second is made of white leather, and cut out lozenge-wise with eight thongs, which unite in a central one going up the instep; the heel is painted red, and made of leaves of leather pressed together. The most reasonable shoe of the Valois epoch, and indeed of the whole series from the French courts, belongs to the time of Henri III. (4). It is made to the natural shape of the foot, and has a heel of moderate height. Of fawn-coloured leather, it is cut out at the sides in large lozenge-shaped openings, and fastened by two straps, which spring from the neck and embrace the central thong, the edges throughout being scalloped, and the shoe embroidered with fine blue. No specimen of woman’s wear under Henri IV. is given, but to judge from a child’s shoe, the same fashion prevailed as that last illustrated. With Louis XIII. the high heels and pointed toes reappear. An Italian example (5) of this date resembles the Henri III. specimen in its open sides, its scalloped edges, and its method of fastening; but the toe, tending to a point, ends in a fine duck’s bill. The heel is painted red. A German shoe of about the same time is tasteful, but more domestic. It is of grey kid, embroidered on the upper with a bold design in black silk. The toe is pointed and slightly raised; and the heel towards the centre of the foot is painted pink.