The Book of the Feet: A History of Boots and Shoes — John Shaqi
The Book of the Feet: A History of Boots and ShoesHall, Joseph Sparkes
History
The Book of the Feet: A History of Boots and Shoes
Hall, Joseph Sparkes
Footwear -- History; Shoemakers
Close boots reaching nearly to the knee where they are met by a wide
trowser, are not uncommon upon these sculptures, being precisely the
same in shape and appearance as those worn by the modern Cossacks.
Indeed, there is nothing in the way of boots that may not be found upon
the existing monuments of early nations, precisely resembling the modern
ones. The little figure here given might pass for a copy of the boots
worn by one of the soldiers of King William the Third’s army, and would
not be unworthy of uncle Toby himself, yet it is carefully copied from a
most ancient specimen of Etruscan sculpture, in the possession of
Inghirami, who has engraved it in his learned work the “Monumenti
Etruschi;” the original represents an augur, or priest, whose chief duty
was to report and explain supernatural signs.
With the ancient Greeks and Romans, the coverings for the feet assumed
their most elegant forms; yet in no instance does the comfort of the
wearer appear to have been sacrificed, or the natural play of the foot
interfered with--_that_ appears to have been especially reserved for
“march-of-intellect” days. Vegetable sandals, termed Baxa, or Baxea,
were worn by the lower classes, and as a symbol of their humility, by
the philosophers and priests. Apuleius describes a young priest as
wearing sandals of palm; they were no doubt similar in construction to
the Egyptian ones, of which we have already given specimens, and which
were part of the required and characteristic dress of the Egyptian
priesthood. Such vegetable sandals were, however, occasionally decorated
with ornaments to a considerable extent, and they then became expensive.
The making of them in all their variety, was the business of a class of
men called Baxearii; and these with the Solearii (or makers of the
simplest kind of sandal worn, consisting of a sole with little more to
fasten it to the foot than a strap across the instep) constituted a
corporation or college of Rome.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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