Woven Chinese Children's Shoes

We have been wearing shoes woven from plant fibers for a very long time. The oldest known shoes are 9,000-year-old sagebrush sandals found in an Oregon cave. The idea of making light, bouncy shoes from reeds and rushes (such as cattail or papyrus), occurred to people around the world — from Scandanavia, to Egypt, to China — where these adorable chidren's shoes are from. Called cailu (草履) or caixie (草鞋), rush shoes are still sometimes made in remote rural areas, such as the vast marshes of the Liao River Delta. We offer these as examples of vernacular textile art; and of another useful, vanishing craft.

7” long x 4” wide x 3.5” high (each)