Why Toronto museum awaits return of Nizam’s slippers?

Answer 1

Toronto museum awaits return of Nizam’s slippers
Toufiq Rashid
Posted online: Saturday, August 19, 2006 at 0000 hrs

TORONTO, AUGUST 18:Those who bought the $8 tickets at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto come out of the place unhappy. The legendary shoes that once belonged to the Nizam of Hyderabad, the most prestigious artefact in the museum, is not on display.


The rare, jewel-encrusted slippers were stolen from the museum on January 22, 2006. A gold toe ring and golden anklet were also stolen along with the precious shoes. The 19th century shoes were valued at $160,000 by the owners of the museum who run the Bata shoe chain across the world.

Although the Toronto police arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with thefts and recovered the precious shoes in March 2006, the owners are not willing to display these shoes without proper security arrangements.

“The shoes are in some high security area, nobody knows where but they will be back on display somewhere in the first week of October if things go well,’’ said Lyna, who works in the Museum. According to her, the owners are making high security arrangements for the shoes, with sensors attached to the area around the display. It will also be put up separately in an area which will be out of bounds for the people visiting the museum. The steps were being taken as the theft took place in broad daylight. It was during a display that the thieves made off with several valuable items from the Bloor Street Museum, including the slippers.

The next day, an inventory of the museum revealed that two other items were also missing: a gold toe ring, set with diamonds and rubies and valued at $11,000; and a gold anklet worth $45,000 also set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, which belonged to the Nizam. Later that week, museum founder Sonja Bata offered a $25,000 reward for the return of the items.

The breakthrough in the case came when a photo lab owner noticed a picture of one of the slippers while packaging photos. When a man came to pick up the photos, the owner and his staff secretly snapped his picture and called police. The owner and two employees split a $25,000 reward from the museum for helping to solve the thefts. The shoes were recovered from a Church.

The high profile theft, however, has bought more visitors to the place, said Lyna. The museum which displays about 200 different pairs of shoes has shoes from early civilisations, like padukas and straw slippers from India, shoes from 16th century Turkey, 19th century China and Japanese stirrups that go back to the 16th century.

Shoes of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Madonna, Tiger Woods, Pierce Brosnan and many other celebrities are also on display.

Answer 2

They are prized shoes..... Prince Albar Ali Khan Sikander Jah (1768 -1829)

The museum's collection includes 12,000 artefacts from earlier civilisations, some dating back 4,500 years, to the catwalks of today's leading designers, the museum's website boasts. It also claims to be the world's largest collection of shoes and footwear-related objects.

Answer 3

um

do you mean the stolen slippers from the Shoe Museum.. The culprits were caught, and unless they are being held as evidence, they should be back in their display case now.