Title
Pair of embroidered slippers
Year/Period
around 1922
Region
Acquired in Singapore
Object Type
Technique
Dimension
Object size: Refer to parts
Accession No.
2019-00645
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr Wee Teck Ee in memory of his parents
Symbolizing honour, virtue, and the desire for successful male offspring, the mythical qilin on these slippers is worked with gold thread in basket-weave stitch and couched (stitched down) over padding to give a raised effect ("tekat timbul"). The donor of these slippers remembers that they were given to his mother, probably as part of her trousseau (personal items a bride takes with her to start her married life), when she married his father in Singapore in 1922. Known as "kasut sulam benang mas" in Baba Malay which was spoken by Peranakans from Malacca and Singapore, gold embroidery slippers were often displayed in glass-fronted cabinets in the wedding chamber, signaling wealth and abundance.
