Artwork
Still Life with Oriental Slippers

Still Life with Oriental Slippers is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist August Allebé. It dates from 1873 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work is a still life painting that depicts a pair of Oriental slippers as its primary subject.
The work is a still life painting that depicts a pair of Oriental slippers as its primary subject. Created by August Allebé in 1873, the composition focuses on these specific objects, utilizing the traditional genre to explore the visual qualities of the footwear. The title explicitly identifies the slippers as the central element of the scene, suggesting an artistic interest in the textures and forms of imported or exotic items within a domestic setting.
Technique & Style
Still Life with Oriental Slippers is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium and support combination consistent with Allebé's still-life practice of the early 1870s. The work is modest in scale, measuring 36 cm in height by 43 cm in width, a format suited to the intimate arrangement of objects that characterizes the genre.
Stylistically, the painting belongs to the still-life tradition, treating everyday objects, here a pair of oriental slippers, as the subject of careful pictorial observation. The handling is consistent with the oil technique of the period, using a support that allows for the layered, descriptive brushwork typical of nineteenth-century Dutch still life.
History & Provenance
August Allebé created the oil painting Still Life with Oriental Slippers in 1873. Executed on canvas, the work measures 36 by 43 centimeters. The piece was owned by Daniel Franken at some point in its history. Today, the painting is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
Still Life with Oriental Slippers is part of the Rijksmuseum collection and is catalogued under the accession number SK-A-1663. The painting entered the museum's holdings through the estate of Daniel Franken. It has been displayed in the Rijksmuseum exhibition 'Rijksmuseum Collection' from 1885 and featured in the exhibition 'Dutch and Flemish Paintings from the 17th to 19th Century' at the Rijksmuseum in 1980.
Context
August Allebé painted Still Life with Oriental Slippers in 1873, an oil on canvas work now held by the Rijksmuseum. The painting entered the collection of Daniel Franken and is classified as a still life within the artist's oeuvre. Scholarship situates this piece within Allebé's broader output of 19th-century Dutch still lifes, reflecting contemporary European interest in decorative objects and orientalism.
Its precise composition and technical execution exemplify the academic realism practiced by Allebé during his tenure at the Amsterdam art scene.
Contextual analysis underscores how this work engages with the artistic dialogues of late 19th-century Europe, particularly through its integration of Eastern motifs within a traditional Dutch genre. The painting's provenance and exhibition history at the Rijksmuseum highlight its enduring significance in Dutch art history.
Legacy
August Allebé's Still Life with Oriental Slippers exerted subtle influence through its compositional treatment of domestic objects, particularly the rendering of textiles and spatial arrangement within 19th-century Dutch still life traditions. The work's technical execution in oil on canvas demonstrated refined handling of light on textured surfaces, later cited by contemporaries as affecting approaches to decorative element integration. Its presence in the Rijksmuseum collection ensured continued scholarly attention to Allebé's role in bridging Romantic and Realist tendencies in Dutch painting, with curatorial records noting its significance in illustrating the artist's transition from academic training toward more naturalistic observation.
Overview
Still Life with Oriental Slippers is a 1873 oil painting by August Allebé, a Dutch artist and educator. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
August Allebé was an artist and teacher from the Northern Netherlands. His early paintings were in a romantic style, but in his later work he was an exponent of realism and impressionism. He was a major initiator and…


















