Title
On back: "Singer Three Drawer Cabinet Tables/Equipped with Singer Heads/ No. 13K26 or No. 66K4/Cabinet Table No.1/Sold only by Singer Sewing Machine Co./Represented by/ Ad. No 1784-8B"
Year/Period
20th Century
Region
Straits Settlements or Indonesia
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 8.9 x 14.0 cm
Accession No.
2015-00789
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee
This is a depiction of Peranakan women in Java using Singer sewing machines. The advertisement of Singer Three Drawer Cabinet Tables is printed on the back. This large group of photographs 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. The collection also allows study of different photographic techniques and covers a wide range of themes, including changing fashions (from baju panjang and baju kurong to kebaya and cheongsam), festive celebrations (weddings, funerals, ancestral rites, Chinese New Year), interiors, transportation and children.
