Title
Cabinet
Year/Period
20th century
Region
Malacca, Malayisa
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 121.0 x 122.0 x 49.0 cm
Accession No.
2021-00602
Collection of
This cabinet comes from a set of furniture set on a staircase landing in a house in Malacca. Largely European in form, the cabinet shows Chinese influence in the taotie masks on its claw-and-ball feet. The masks can be traced back to Shang and Zhou period bronze vessels. The mixture of European and Chinese elements is characteristic of furniture popular among Chinese Peranakans, particularly during the late 19th to early 20th century. These were often made of teak, a hardwood that grows in abundance in India, Thailand, and Myanmar. Being relatively less dense, teak lends itself well to the carving of intricate designs.
