Three Roman shoes found by a mudlark in London, £6000 at TimeLine.
One of the pieces in the collection is the sole of a carbatina type shoe - formed from two thin layers of leather with a third, thinner layer beneath punched with a line of domed iron studs.
Such shoes were commonly worn by children because of their simplicity and the ease of fastening and were often a step up from going barefoot.
However, some had complex patterning and better protection, displaying the wearer’s social status. The latticed design is a rarer example and could point to a wealthier individual - or in this case family.
Londinium was at its height in the 2nd century with up to 60,000 inhabitants around the year 140 and it was expected of all the population - including children - to dress only within their social ranking.
Other examples of carbatinae dated to the last quarter of the 1st and 2nd century have been found in Castleford, West Yorkshire, Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire, and other sites in London.
Two well-preserved specimens of carbatinae were discovered at the Vindolanda fort in Northumberland, just south of Hadrian’s Wall, which housed a mixed population of soldiers and their families.
Like the Thames mud, the clay-rich soil at Vindolanda provided the anerobic environment that allows organic materials to survive across millennia.
While many Roman shoes survive in museum collections it is rare to see them offered on the open market. The shoes came for sale at TimeLine Auctions in Harwich, Essex, on June 4. The mudlark had sold them to the Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, which had been formed since 1985. They had been on display in Harwich Museum.
The hammer price of £6000 (plus 30% buyer’s premium) doubled the top estimate.
