17th/ 18thC Clog and shoe fasteners

Clogs: Footwear made either completely of wood, or having a wooden sole to which a leather, rubber, or cloth covering may be attached. Until the end of the 18th century, clogs were what the majority of people wore on their feet, as they were inexpensive and protective.

The clasps made for use on clogs and shoes were made in two parts: the clasp (the hook side) and the hasp (the cut out section) to take the hooked part of the clasp

Clogs or sabots were probably developed from the high wooden pattens worn by ladies of fashion to protect their shoes from the muddy streets between the 16th and 18th centuries. Wooden poulaines were also worn as overshoes in the fourteenth century to protect the delicate fabric footwear. When peasants wore pattens they were called "galoche". These originated in Ardennes and were known in Roman Times. Galoshes consisted of wooden soles, with a leather top. The footwear was serviceable, hardwearing and provided protection from the wet ground. Pattens were made from willow, poplar or any other strong wood, which did not split. They proved popular in the Low Countries and France. There are many references to pattens in contemporary popular literature. Samuel Pepys complained in his diary in 1660 about the poor workmanship of his wife's pattens. The report did not stop Queen Mary II from acquiring five pairs of satin sabots with gold and silver lacing in 1694. Pattens were regularly advertised in the London Gazette and popular with both sexes. Later the character Catherine Morland in Jane Austen's (1775-1817) "Northanger Abbey" records on her trip to the abbey 'wherever they went some pattened girl stopped to curtsey.' This would suggest the servant class as a form of tough footwear wore pattens even if the weather was not inclement. Charles Dickens character, Mrs Perrybingle in 'The cricket on the heath' is described as 'clicking over the wet stones in a pair of pattens that worked innumerable rough impressions of the first proposition in Euclid all about the year.' The early settlers to Brisbane were reported as wearing small clog overshoes to protect their fashionable shoes. The solid leather clogs were for day to day wear with brass nails and horseshoe shaped irons nailed to the soles.

18thC silver decorated clog fastener initials TA- hall marked solid silver with markers mark LB