Woman's tunic

Title
Woman's tunic
Year/Period
Late 19th-early 20th century
Region
Malay Peninsula
Dimension
Object size: L:72.8 x W:169.5
Accession No.
1997-04226
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andy Ng

This tunic or ‘baju kurong’ was tailored from cloth decorated with songket supplementary weft weave. It features floral motifs in a diagonal lattice. Prior to the arrival of Islam in the Malay peninsula, neither the nobility nor commoners seems to have covered the upper body with clothing. Islam encouraged a modest form of dressing and thus the use of shirts and jackets. Tunics thus became increasingly widespread as everyday wear