Title
Panel for a clutch purse
Year/Period
20th century
Region
Singapore
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 27.0 x 21.7 cm
Accession No.
2024-00033
Collection of
Alice Choo (1926-2019) beaded this panel, probably with the intention to make it into a clutch purse. She depicted a green bird with a red breast and long trailing tail feathers in one composition, and a tiger surrounded by tall grass in another. The tiger was among one of her favoured motifs as it was her Chinese zodiac sign. They were worked in glass seed beads in petit-point stitch. Also known as tent stitch or half-cross stitch, this technique involved sewing each bead diagonally over intersections of the needlepoint canvas’s warp and weft threads. Like most nyonyas, Choo was taught to bead and embroider at home.
