Summary

This solid grey left foot metal shoe last is the form in which Stanio Fancoff's various shoes were moulded upon. Created sometime between the 1930s and 1970s, this shoe last allows the moulding of multiple shoes of the same heel height and toe shape. This particular shoe last's pointed toe, small foot and heel width suggest this object was an integral instrument used by Stanio when making his various women's basketweave shoes.

Stanio Ivanoff Fancoff was born in 1908 in Bojentsi, a small village in Bulgaria. At age 11, Stanio left home to learn the shoemaking trade. In 1929, he immigrated to Melbourne, settled in Fitzroy and began to work for the V.G. Zemancheff & Sons basket shoe factory in South Melbourne. In1936, he married Dorotea Georgi Touzou who had recently arrived in Australia. Around this time, Stanio set up his own shoemaking business from home, with Georgi, her cousin and sister weaving the shoes which he then assembled. Select shoe samples were then taken to Sydney and Tasmania for sale. In 1942, Georgi and Stanio moved to Broken Hill for Georgi's health; there daughter Nancy was born and Stanio set up a shoe shop/factory. In 1945, Georgi died and by 1950 Stanio and Nancy had moved to Adelaide where he again opened a shoemaking business and shop. He passed away in 1978, having been in the shoe-making business for 59 years. This collection documents his migration and working life experiences.

Physical Description

Grey metal left foot shoe last sculpted within a generic foot shape. Although the object is solid, at the top ankle point an open rectangular shape descends into the foot shape. Throughout this object's surface indentations, scratches and variances within the metals composition exist.

Significance

This collection is significant in documenting a small migrant business as well as the fashion of a particular period. It is well provenanced and charts the application of trade skills in a new country. It also illustrates the stages of hand shoe manufacture from the 1930s, demonstrating the enduring nature of the tools and patterns that were used.

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