Mozart’s shoe buckle surpasses auction estimate

Anonymous buyer pays more than $14,500.

A single shoe buckle owned by legendary classical music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been sold at a Viennese auction for €12,500 ($14,522). The buckle has been owned by the family of Mozart’s shoemaker since the 18th century and has been purchased by an anonymous buyer. The final price was considerably above the estimated value of €2,000 to €4,000 ($2,324 to $4,648) that had been set by the auction house.

The collector will reportedly receive the engraved metal buckle in an ornate reliquary shrine, along with a handwritten letter of authenticity stating that the item was passed down through the generations from Vienna master shoemaker Matthias Knoller. According to a 19th-century biographer, Mozart played a concert in Dresden in the spring of 1789 and kept time by stamping his foot so forcefully that he broke a buckle on his shoe.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 4 of the December 2017 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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