Title
Oil basin
Year/Period
Xuantong period (1909-1911), Qing dynasty
Region
China
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 3 x 8.5 cm
Accession No.
1999-00766
Collection of
Credit Line
Bequest of Tony Wee and Colin Holland
The oil basin is a miniature form of a wedding basin, a rare form in Nonyaware. The oil basin was used on the dressing table of the Peranakan lady for a specific type of hair gel called lida buaya. The gel was purchased in the form of a wafer and put into this basin with water, the mixture of which will form a sticky gel which the Peranakan lady would use to fashion her hair into a chignon.
