x W: 18 cm
These are unsewn slipper faces, featuring colourful floral designs, before being sent to Chinese shoemakers to be made into kasut manek (beaded slippers). Kasut manek were worn by Peranakan women in Penang, Malacca, Singapore, Indonesia, and southern Thailand and Myanmar. This slipper top features colourful floral designs on red velvet. Decorative designs were normally copied from existing slippers. Although the practice of sewing kasut manek is not as widespread in the Peranakan community as before, it is still being practised and is undergoing a revival amongst Singaporeans today. Slipper tops used to be sewn with old rocaille beads made in Europe but they are no longer in production, and modern beads are used nowadays.
