In Straits Chinese porcelain, there are interestingly no rice bowls as rice was always served on plates. This is a 'mangkok laok' or food bowl used to serve up dishes. The collective Baba Malay term for dining ware is 'pinggan mangkok', which literally means 'plates and bowls'. The dinner service can also include cups, saucers, spoons and spoon rests. Wealthy Peranakan families often commissioned the highest quality porcelain wares for special occasions that would bear their surnames. These wares would have elaborate decorations of phoenix and peony motifs, and colourful enamelled backgrounds like this example.
