Marie Antoinette's silk shoe auctioned for over $51,000 in Versailles

A white silk shoe belonging to last French Queen Marie Antoinette was auctioned on Sunday, vember 15, for over $51,000 (43,750 euros). sum was four times more than it was expected to sell for, auctioneers said. 22.5 centimeter-long (8.8-inch) shoe with a 4.7 cm heel is roughly equivalent to a European size 36 and is adorned with four ribbons and in good condition, apart from slight wearing of silk, Osenat auction house said.

Osenat furr said that with international collectors showing strong interest, price for shoe quickly raised from reserve of about  $9,450 to $11,800 (8,000 to 10,000 euros) and in end was bought by an unidentified buyer. sale took place in Versailles --  town west of Paris that was once home to France's royal court -- where, from her arrival at of 15, Marie Antoinette enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

During French Revolution, priced shoe of France's last queen before 1789 event, is believed to have ended up in hands of Marie Emilie Leschevin, a close friend of queen's head chambermaid. Leschevin's family held on to shoe for generations before it came to auction 227 years after her death, according to reports.

READ | France mulls ban on police ims, alarming rights defenders

READ | Pakistani Islamists' anti-France sit-in ends peacefully

About Marie Antoinette

Infamous as 'Madame Deficit' for her nchalance over plight of her subjects, Marie Antoinette was born an Austrian archduchess and was wife of Louis XVI. She was beheaded during Terror in 1793, nine months after her husband Louis XVI who was deposed during 1789 revolution. Legends have it that indulgent royal advised starving French peasants, who could t even afford bread, to "eat cake" instead.

Last year an exhibition at Conciergerie, former Paris prison where queen was incarcerated before execution, retraced changes in representation of country's last queen through paintings, films, mangas and even Barbie dolls. Meanwhile, over year, Versailles Palace, including Grand Hall of Mirrors and its grounds, has remained a major tourist attraction.

READ | Mass rally against France and Macron in Islamabad

READ | After congratulating Biden, France's Macron sees Trump envoy

(Im - Osenat auction house)