Plaster Academy Cast of a Classical Sandaled Foot

A cast plaster anatomical study of a right foot, taken after an antique classical sculpture. The foot is modelled wearing a traditional strapped sandal, featuring a shaped sole and interlacing leather thongs that rise toward an ankle cuff severed in the manner of an architectural fragment.

Produced primarily for drawing schools, university cast collections, or sculptors' studios, these casts provided direct access to the canon of Greco-Roman antiquity. Taken from a mould—likely after a Roman copy of a Hellenistic or classical Greek original, such as the Hermes of Praxiteles or an Apollo—the piece retains sharp modelling through the digits, strap work, and sole edge, resting on an integral irregular plinth.