This is a pair of shoes with gilt silver applique pieces attached to the shoe face. Embroidered footwear with such extravagant pieces of gold or silver sewn on in the place of raised embroidery suggests that the shoes were probably made for special occasions like a wedding. The mark “BIE KENG BKT BATAVIA” is seen on the insole and the sole of the shoes, which indicates the location and name of the shop where it was produced. These “Chinese-style” shoes were not worn exclusively by the Peranakan Chinese, but instead were worn by other regional communities in the East Indies. They demonstrate the share material culture of the region and the cross-cultural interactions between communities contributing the development of a Peranakan-style of embroidery in the Indies.
