Title
Mattress panel
Year/Period
Late 19th or early 20th century
Region
Penang, Straits Settlements
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 15.0 x 210.4 x 0.6 cm
Accession No.
2021-00762
Collection of
This long panel would have been attached to the side of the mattress on a Chinese Peranakan wedding bed. It was part of a wide array of embroidered textiles used to decorate the bed. The mattress panel reveals multiple cultural influences. Pairs of roosters and hens alternate with clutches of roses in a sequence set against a turquoise ground, a popular shade in nyonya needlework from Penang. Roses were popular because of their resemblance to peonies, a traditional Chinese symbol of wealth, honour, and love.
