Accession Number

2025.002.001.003

Alternate Name

buttonhook

Description

One ivory shoehorn with a steel button hook at the opposite end. The steel button hook is stamped “ENGLISH MAKE STEEL” in uppercase lettering. The ferrule where the steel joins to the ivory horn appears to be made of silver, but is not hallmarked.

Narrative

This glove shoehorn is part of 5-piece hand-carved ivory lady’s dresser set.

Chinese decorative arts and furniture was desirable to late 19th Century Victoria residents. This exotic, beautiful, and well-made dresser set is a fine example Chinese craftsmanship.

History of Use

This shoehorn and the dresser set to which it belongs was acquired and used by Mary Jean Dunsmuir sometime between 1885 and 1900. It was used by her at her house Mt. Adelaide, which once sat beside West Bay, an area of Victoria’s Inner Harbour in Esquimalt, B.C. After her death in 1928, the set was inherited by her sister’s granddaughter, Lucy Lenore Bryden (1907-1997) who used it at her Gartley Road beach house in Royston, B.C. It was donated to Craigdarroch by Lucy Lenore Bryden’s son in 2025.

Date

circa 1895

Dimensions

1 x 4.2 x 26.7 cm

Material

Ivory; Metal, steel

Technique

Carved; Forged; Stamped

Country of Origin

China