Unusual, Substantial Pair of (Heavy!) Metal Salesman Sample/Display Loafers with Tassels praying drawing With a big gray sky

With a big gray sky

and based on a little research late 18th century or seems about right

" And on the back

This is an early—very late 18th or very early 19th century—French lacquered papier-mâché snuff box

or maybe more

Unusual, Substantial Pair of (Heavy!) Metal Salesman Sample/Display Loafers with Tassels praying drawing With a big gray skyCurious. I don't know that I'd ever seen a pair of metal salesman sample shoes before, but I'm more or less certain that is what these are, given their quality and scale and specificity. (Or maybe a shoe company's gift for the loafer salesman of the year?!) They're quite substantial, beautifully crafted and quite striking, all the more so in hand, with their surface finish evincing carved stone (I keep thinking of catlinite) as much as anything and