This is a pair of unsewn beaded slippers or “Kasut Manek”. The decorative motifs include a young orange-yellow deer in a playful stance with a plant with orange and purple flowers. The deer is an auspicious symbol representing longevity. Alternating diamond shapes in light green and dark blue, each outlined with white colour beads, form a distinctive background pattern to the main decorative motifs. These motifs are created using colourful glass seed or Rocaille beads, also referred to by the Peranakans as “Manek Kacha”. Such beads could have been imported from Europe and were sold locally to households by the travelling haberdasher known to Nonyas as the “klengtong man”. The beads are stitched onto the base cotton fabric using bead embroidery or threading, which is a technique where coloured seed beads are stitched onto a base fabric using needle and thread.
