Certainly one of the most unusual items in the Cobb House Museum is the pair of silk, embroidered lotus shoes in the China trade display. Eliza Emma Winslow Foster and other sea faring Brewster natives must have thrilled their Brewster neighbors upon returning from a long voyage to China and back bringing home these unfamiliar items.
~ BHS Docent, Cobb House Museum
These shoes, also known as lotus shoes, were made during the late 19th century for a Chinese woman with traditional bound feet.
Eliza sailed around the world seven times with her husband, Captain Francis Bailey Foster.
China Trade display at the Cobb House Museum