Vassiliev Foundation: Applied Arts: Suitcase for shoes [2022.5.11.32.AA.TR.C1935.IT]

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Suitcase for shoes

Applied Arts

Inventory number

2022.5.11.32.AA.TR.C1935.IT

Author:

Vittorio Giovanardi (Italian, active 1920s - 1940s)

Description

Suitcase for shoe salesman covered in a green fabric on a wooden base, rimmed with leather trim, consolidated with leather patchs on corners, compounded with two leather handles and two locks with a key set. Twelve compartments for shoes are separated by grids and a piece of cloth attached by two metallic buckles.

This luggage is preserved with a hundred female shoes from the 1930's to the following decades. Only the left or the right foot of a pair of shoes was carried by the traveling drummer, so twenty-four different types of shoes could fit in the suitcase.

Traveling salesmen, also known as "VRP" for "voyageurs-représentants-placiers" which stands for "travelers-agent-broker", manage sales, sometimes purchases and insurances. They endorse the intermediary between manufacturers and buyers. They never work for their own but take notes on tastes, habits and orders from clients for a company. Those VRPs receive lists of costumers to see on a delimited geographic perimeter. In the first half of the 20th century, traveling salesmen were common.

Materials

Wood
Cotton
Wool
Leather
Metal

Origin

circa 1935 Bologna, Italy

Dimensions

Width : 52 cm
Length : 55 cm
Height : 22 cm

Related objects

Related person

Vittorio Giovanardi (Italian, active 1920s - 1940s) (creator)