A Pair of Ivory-Mounted Wooden shoes (Qabqab), probably Istanbul, Turkey, 18th century

each composed of two tall stilts splayed at their base and supporting a foot-shaped platform with pointed terminals, the decoration of carved openwork panels applied to the upper surface and edges worked with a composite floral spray rising from a globular vase enclosed in a ground of foliate scrolls, the remaining surfaces painted in polychrome and gilt with floral bouquets alternately resting in baluster form vases, woven baskets or beribboned, borders of floral garlands on a gold ground

Ex. Collection Henry-René d'Allemagne

Couleurs d'Orient, Brussels, 2010

Brussels 2010, p.76

Both in overall good condition, some loss to paint and bone carvings, including some encrustations to bone consistent with age, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The high stilts of such qabqabs would have proved useful in protecting the bathers' feet as they walked on the heated floors of the bath-house. Used exclusively by women, surviving shoes are frequently decorated in a variety of manners but never with greater lavishness than on these examples. Their height is also noteworthy being at the limits of practicality and thus emphasising their role in fashion over function. 

The painted decoration immediately brings to mind the floral panels of the dining room of Ahmed III (r.1703-30) in the Topkapi Saray (Rogers 1988, figs.74 and 75). The room is filled with brightly coloured designs of floral bouquets in vases and similar baskets within borders reserved on gold, all of which appear on these shoes. They convey the spirit of an artistically enlivened age, the 'Tulip Period', during which a new openness to Western European knowledge and culture, at least in court circles, displayed itself in the art of this time.