Memory High-Buttoned Shoe

Unidentified, Memory High-Buttoned Shoe, early 20th century, Masonite with composition dough embedded with metal, plastic, glass, and wood objects, gilded with gold paint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.279
Copied Unidentified, Memory High-Buttoned Shoe, early 20th century, Masonite with composition dough embedded with metal, plastic, glass, and wood objects, gilded with gold paint, 15 3⁄8 x 12 3⁄8 x 2 3⁄8 in. (39.1 x 31.4 x 6.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.279
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Artwork Details

Title
Memory High-Buttoned Shoe
Artist
Unidentified
Date
early 20th century
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
15 3⁄8 x 12 3⁄8 x 2 3⁄8 in. (39.1 x 31.4 x 6.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
Masonite with composition dough embedded with metal, plastic, glass, and wood objects, gilded with gold paint
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — other — memory
  • Dress — accessory — shoe
Object Number
1986.65.279
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.279

Artwork Description

Some memory jars may have come from African American traditions of decorating graves with objects owned by the deceased. The objects embedded in the surface of these bottles and jars provide clues about when they were made or who made them. For example, Jug with Finial includes a campaign button for William Jennings Bryan, a Democratic presidential candidate between 1896 and 1908, while High-Buttoned Shoe shows a macabre row of teeth that may have belonged to the maker.