Title
Armchair
Year/Period
Late 19th-early 20th centuries
Region
Penang
Object Type
Technique
Dimension
Object size: H102 x W69.5 xD52 cm
Accession No.
1997-04806
Collection of
This Chinese-style blackwood armchair with mother-of-pearl inlay is called 'Hup soo ee' in Hokkien. 'Ee' is the Baba Malay word for 'chair'. This piece is one of a set of eight and is a very rare type of hup soo ee that came from a wealthy family in Penang. It has a back seat panel made of porcelain featuring a Chinese figurative scene. Each chair in the set have distinctive figurative scenes. The subject matter for these scenes were either scholarly or representations of the traditional Chinese values that Peranakan Chinese hoped to pass on to their children. In more affluent families, chairs like these were usually given to daughters as part of their wedding trousseau.
