Dessert plate with ‘BMAC’ monogram

Title

Year/Period

Early 20th century

Region

France and Singapore

Object Type

dessert plates

Material

ceramic glaze, ceramic (material)

Technique

pottery glazing (process or technique), molding (forming), ceramic process, pottery techniques

Dimension

Object size: 21.0 x 21.0 x 3.0 cm,
Object size: 2.5 x 21.2 x 21.2 cm

Accession No.

2022-00052

Collection of

Peranakan Museum

Credit Line

Gift of Louise Clarke in memory of Josephine Cockburn nee Cornelius

This plate with a 'BMAC' monogram was part of a dinner set belonging to Benjamin Marie Alexander Cornelius (1851-1937). Born to Eurasian parents in Malacca, he lived and worked in Singapore from 1870 until his death in 1937, raising his family in there. One obituary described him as the ‘doyen of the Singapore Eurasian community’. The monogrammed dinner set was used on special occasions by the family for four generations, including by his daughter Josephine, granddaughter Margaret, and great granddaughter Louise. The plate is remarkable in having survived the looting of the Second World War when the family left their homes on St Francis Road, Singapore, and evacuated to India.