Traditionally the most trusted members of the Austrian imperial court enjoyed the prerogative to sell for their own profit personal items belonging to their majesties once they were no longer in use.
One of these courtiers was Eugen Ketterl, the emperor’s valet, and Ketterl-certified items have found their way onto the market and into Dorotheum sales in the past.
Among the imperial ‘relics’ offered in its latest auction on June 18, Dorotheum has three Ketterl-certified pairs of imperial shoes. Two of the pairs are silk-lined kid slippers that belonged to Emperor Franz Josef.
Each pair carries a sealed authentification from Ketterl dated 1916, reading these slippers were worn exclusively by HRH Franz Joseph I, and is estimated at €5000-8000.
The third lot is a pair of black satin shoes embroidered with beads and applied with bows that belonged to the Empress Elisabeth. They too are guided at €5000-8000.
