I began searching for woven shoes like these in 2007 after reading Jutta Jain-Neubauer’s beautiful and informative book titled Feet & Footwear in Indian Culture.  The first breakthrough came from my colleague Pierre Goloubinoff who delivered to me a pair of woven shoes from the Leh District of northern India in November of 2012 (see earlier News item). The woven slippers shown below will become item# Np-1 in the collection.  I purchased them on Ebay from the store gaguska4. Through email discussion with Zoja, the seller, I learned that these slippers were discovered at a street fair in Manhattan, NYC.  The merchant appeared to be for the Himalayan region, perhaps Nepal, Tibet or India, according to Zoja.  Peirre had seen shoes like these in a shop in Leh that sold goods from Nepal.  This description fits well with information in the Jain-Neubauer book.  They are woven by local peoples, the Newars or Newa People (on page 165 of the Jain-Neubzuer book) living in valleys in the foothills of the Himalayas extending from Nepal to northern Pakistan.  Newar and Nepal are different linguistic forms of the same root word for the ancient inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. Local straw and grasses are used including a long grass named lambchua.  This grass is processed to create a soft, pliable fiber.  Two-ply S-twisted cords are used for the sole warps and the soft fibrous chords are used for the wefts of the sole.  The main material used for the vamps is a grass named charas.  Long, soft fibers are produced from the inner bark or bast.  The natural color is beige but some of these fibers are dyed, usually orange, pink, green, red and blue, to provide decorative elements for the vamp.

Newar marriage celebration, Nepal, Photo by Krish Dulal