SJ-2008-6-1
Gutskin;Hide;Feather
Height: 9.5 in.
Width: 1.9 in.
Diameter: 5.12 in.
19th century
Alutiiq
The boots were purchased through eBay from Shirley Hutton of Vacaville, CA which is about 3 hours from Ft. Ross, the Russian American outpost during the early 1800’s. There was a large contingent of Aleut/Alutiiq people stationed there. With no record of origin there is nothing to prove or disprove if these might have been connected to the Aleut living at Ft. Ross. The boots were purchased at a church sale by the seller. The very small size suggests the boots might have been practice boots for a young girl or simply made as a souvenir item. The boots underwent nearly a year’s worth of conservation treatment. A complete treatment report is included in the accession folder.
Very small pair “child-sized” boots of tentatively identified material. There is no obvious left or right orientation of the boots. The legging areas are a thin opaque yellow material, which could be sea lion esophagus. Two side seams on each boot have a thin strip of welting with alternating groupings of three (3) red/blue/red and blue/red/blue pieces of fabric inserted. Fine feathers had been attached to the fabric groupings but only a few remain in the seams. Around the top edge of each boot is a 1/8” strip of light greenish unknown material sewn in place with cotton thread(?). The sides of the foot are a dark ochre color and may be made commercial leather. Stitching where the foot is attached to the legging is by machine. A seam runs down the back with a small strip of light colored welting. The soles are from an unknown animal hide and are a deep tan color.