Title
Untitled
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Java
Dimension
Frame size: 40.7 x 34.6 x 3.3 cm,
Image size: 22 x 16.5 cm,
Image size: 34 x 28 cm (Mount size)
Image size: 22 x 16.5 cm,
Image size: 34 x 28 cm (Mount size)
Accession No.
2013-00983
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee
This is a framed studio photograph of Peranakan lady in baju kurung (short tunic with v-shaped opening for the neck) seated in teakwood chair, against a painted backdrop of a grand interior. This image follows Victorian portraiture conventions of the 1860s whereby painted backdrops of grand interiors provided the main decoration of the image. This photo is part of a large group of framed photographs which provides important visual documentation of the fashion, studio photography and lifestyle of Peranakans of the Straits Settlements and Indonesia in the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. Studio photography possibly reached Singapore and the region in the mid 1800s, and Peranakans were among the earliest clients.
