Wedding chamber ornament

Title
Wedding chamber ornament
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Penang
Dimension
Object size: 16.6 x 17.9 x 2.0 cm
Accession No.
2002-00720
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. Edmond Chin

This beaded ornament would have been hung on a Peranakan wedding bed. Birds were popular motifs associated with fertility and marital bliss. Wedding chamber ornaments usually depict fertility symbols such as butterflies, goldfish and rodents, reflecting the wish to have many heirs to the family name. Wedding chamber ornaments were usually commissioned in pairs, as the Peranakans consider the number ‘two’ as auspicious.