Title
Spirit house
Year/Period
Late 19th-early 20th century
Region
Singapore
Material
Dimension
Object size: H85.5 x W71.3 x D44.6cm
Accession No.
2005-00046
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Rosalind Ong
Spirit houses were used to house ancestral tablets. This example features rich ornate carvings of Chinese figures and mythical figures, and the surface embellishment of gilding. These suggest that this teak spirit house was carved in the style of the Southern Min (Hokkien-speaking people). Ancestral tablets were believed to be a way through which the living may communicate with the deceased ancestors in the after world.
