Title
Untitled
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Java
Material
Dimension
Frame size: 29.5 x 35 x 3 cm,
Image size: 15.3 x 20 cm,
Image size: 23.5 x 29 cm (Mount size)
Image size: 15.3 x 20 cm,
Image size: 23.5 x 29 cm (Mount size)
Accession No.
2013-00979
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee
This framed studio photograph illustrates a seated Peranakan Chinese couple, seated by a sidetable with a vase and sireh set. The nyonya in sarong kebaya rests her feet delicately on a footstool while the baba in Manchu dress holds a cane walking stick. Sireh sets are highly regarded as symbols of wealth and were used in important rituals. 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.
