Sourcing the Muse

The Powerhouse Museum objects which inspired
Nicola Finetti for Sourcing the Muse
Fashion label: Nicola

Filigree shoe 1880s

Filigree shoe 1880sThis shoe is part of the Joseph Box Shoe collection purchased by the Museum's former Director Arthur Penfold in 1942, while in London seeking exhibits that would be 'of interest to Australians'. The collection is now considered one of the finest in the world with over 300 shoes ranging in date from 200 AD to the late 1800s. The filigree shoe was made in Britain in the 1880s and its 'retro' styling suggests it was probably part of a fancy-dress outfit. Its deterioration may be due to the metallic salts used to give silk more 'body' when it was manufactured.

Single oxford shoe, metal filigree decoration, cut-steel beads and machine-made lace. H4448-22


Lace headdress c1900

Headdress c1900This once spectacular headdress with brocaded silk streamers was probably worn as part of a Bavarian regional dress. The bobbin-lace halo is worked mostly in a solid metal ribbon which would have been heated to provide greater flexibility for shaping. It also features a more flexible thread, made from a linen or cotton core spiral-wrapped with a narrower metal ribbon.

Bobbin lace with brocaded silk, probably made in Germany about 1900.

Purchased 1912. A1305


Interview with Nicola Finetti