This rattan side table was part of a set of furnishings designed for the living and dining room of the modernist house at 5 Camborne Rd. The home was a commission from the architect Ng Keng Siang by Lee Wah Bank for the family of its General Manager Kwok Chan-Kwan and his wife Tong Swee Ying. The rattan stacked legs resembles the furniture produced by modern designers in the United States in the 1950s, such as Paul T. Frankl, suggesting the adaptation of international interior design styles among the wealthy in Singapore. The side table was made in a Chinese rattan shop on Victoria St, the site for many immigrant furniture makers particularly during the peak of the rattan industry in Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s. The local material, rattan, is combined here with a formica finished tier. Formica is a type of plastic lamination which was popular in households from the mid-20th century onwards.
