Wonderfully Battered Rubber Pair Of Mid 20Thc Circus Clown’S Shoes C.1950

The wonderfully theatrical pair of oversized clown’s shoes in painted rubber, dating to the mid-20th century and made for actual performance rather than simply as decorative props, the wholes of exaggerated elongated form with enormous rounded toes, finished in a particularly good, deep green with black painted detailing, including bands across the toes and darkened quarters, each retaining their black laces and cream interiors, the surfaces having developed an exceptional dry, crackled and rubbed patina.

The shoes survive in evocatively well-used and distressed condition, with extensive rubbing, cracking and losses to the painted surface consistent with considerable use. One shoe has substantial losses around the upper and ankle opening, with further splits, knocks and general wear throughout both. The soles are heavily rubbed. These faults are integral to their appeal and provide convincing evidence of their life as working costume. They should now be considered decorative objects rather than wearable footwear.

Clown footwear of this exaggerated type became an essential element of the circus clown’s visual vocabulary during the late nineteenth century, the deliberately enormous shoe exaggerating the performer’s gait and physical comedy. Surviving examples with genuine age and wear are increasingly difficult to find, particularly as a pair. These have a pleasingly European circus or music-hall character.

A superbly eccentric pair of vintage theatrical shoes, their battered green and black decoration and extraordinary scale making them wonderfully sculptural objects in their own right.