Take a peek into our nearly 15,000 collection with our blog series, From the Vault! Every other week, we share interesting stories about one of our artefacts. What is the provenance of this pair? When did they enter the BSM collection? These low-cut, lace-up sneakers would have been worn for a variety of athletic and […]
Best Foot Forward
This man’s shoe was acquired by the BSM in 1983. The upper is made of a light blue silk brocade woven with a multi-colour floral pattern interspersed with metallic silver threads. The heel is covered with fine pink leather. The quarters, the back sides of the shoe, have tabs extending over the vamp that are […]
New Acquisition: Adidas Superstar by Chris Severn
The pair of retro adidas Superstars in original packaging, as customized for the BSM by their original designer, Chris Severn. Photo © Bata Shoe Museum. The Bata Shoe Museum recently received a donation by the pioneer of the adidas Superstar, Chris Severn! The Superstar was developed by Chris, Horst Dassler and a team of people […]
From the Vault: L.P. Perchellet Boots
Take a peek into our 14,000+ collection with our blog series, From the Vault! Every other week, we’re sharing interesting stories about one of our artefacts. What is the provenance of this pair? When did they enter the BSM collection? These pair of boots, along with five other identical pairs, was purchased for the museum […]
Empress For A Day: Korean Bridal Crown
This is a continuation of my previous blog: describing conservation treatments for the BSM exhibition The Perfect Pair. The exhibition design featured a ceiling height multi-tiered wedding cake in the centre of the gallery and each tier functioned as display cases containing white wedding shoes. Around the perimeter of the room were large showcases designed […]
From the Vault: Ceremonial Shoes
Take a peek into our 14,000+ collection with our blog series, From the Vault! Every other week, we’re sharing interesting stories about one of our artefacts. What is the provenance of this pair? When did they enter the BSM collection? This pair of ceremonial shoes was purchased for the museum by Sonja Bata in Yangon, […]
Artefacts Travelling the World: A Loan to the “Dior: 1947 to 1957” exhibition
The Bata Shoe Museum (BSM) often lends artefacts to other museums for their exhibitions. Recently, one of our borrowers had such a successful exhibition that the exhibition went on tour, and our artefacts went along for the ride. They are currently on view at the McCord Museum in Montreal until September 26, 2021. The BSM […]
Best Foot Forward: Dressing for a Special Day
These shoes were worn by Mary Evelyn Nichol (nee Griffin) to her wedding on September 18, 1929. In 1997 her daughter donated them to the BSM along with the wedding dress and other accessories worn for this very special occasion. These cream silk satin pumps have a high heel and feature a beaded butterfly attached […]
Care In Handling: Artefact Rotation at the National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada (in foreground, Maman by Louise Bourgeois). Photo: Sam valadi, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa has dedicated one very large display case in their exhibition Canadian and Indigenous Galleries to works from the Bata Shoe Museum collection since the gallery opened in 2017. […]
From the Vault: Jox Cross Country Sample Sneaker
Take a peek into our 14,000+ collection with our blog series, From the Vault! Every other week, we’re sharing interesting stories about one of our artefacts. What is the provenance of this pair? When did they enter the BSM collection? This sample sneaker (c. 1978), the Jox Cross Country, was donated to the museum by […]