Evening Slipper c. 1937

William Kieckhofel made this watercolour on paper Evening Slipper some time between 1855 and 1995. The colour palette is muted, like a faded memory, blue grey and rose. It's as if it came from a dream. The texture of the slipper looks soft, almost velvety, and the artist has carefully rendered the way light falls on the fabric, giving it a three-dimensional quality. You can see the individual strokes of the brush in the subtle variations of colour across the surface, so the making is really on show. The rose coloured embroidery at the front is especially delicate, with intricate swirling patterns. It reminds me of the elaborate details you might find in an illuminated manuscript. The slipper appears weightless and ethereal, like something from another time, but also, it reminds me of some of Manolo Blahnik's sketches, and how the design of a shoe can also be a kind of portrait.