This pair of boots, made of finely woven silk tapestry features phoenixes in flight chasing a flaming pearl. Although the colors have become muted from being buried in a tomb, the lavish use of gold & phoenix motif suggest that the boots were made for a member of the Liao imperial family [2560×1806]

Northern China, Liao dynasty 907-1125 [Museum link](https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1993.158.2)

The wide cut of the top of the boots enabled pants to be tucked inside. At the time the boots were made in the Khitan-occupied territory in northern China, footbinding was introduced among upper-class women in southern China. The high value the Khitan people accorded to boots relates to their mobile, seminomadic lifestyle.