Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show you this pair of blue and white models of slippers! The model for slippers are seventeenth century mules, or trippen, a word used to describe a mule with an upturned toe. Trippen (or patijnen) were wooden shoe covers. They were developed around 1400 and were subsequently worn by the wealthy middle class to protect their shoes from unpaved, muddy streets. These trippen are seen as the forerunners of clogs. The slippers however, were worn by men and women in the home. Mules were part of the home uniform of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century man, as are the house coat and hat. Slippers like these were often made of precious fabrics, such as silk, which would not get dirty by wearing them indoors. Leather shoes were typically worn outdoors. In contrast to…