This is a set of groom’s robe and jacket. The long robe is made of silk, comprising a plain bodice but with the bottom decorated with gold-thread couched fish. The jacket is richly decorated in similar gold-thread embroidery with a central peacock design on a background of flowers. This set would have been worn by a groom on the first day of the traditional twelve day Peranakan wedding ceremony. This object belonged to Wee Bee Neo, a prominent Sang Khek Umm or mistress of wedding ceremonies. As a wedding specialist, she was in charge of the bride’s hair and jewellery, and guiding the young lady through the proper rituals. Sang Khek Umm sometimes loaned out wedding items for a fee, although it is unclear if this set was ever rented.The groom’s jacket and robe has been published before in Edmond Chin’s Gilding the Phoenix: Straits Chinese and Their Jewellery, p 144.
