Silver epergne

Title
Silver epergne
Year/Period
1926
Region
England
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 25.5 x 27.0 cm,
Object size: 25.3 x 25.0 x 23.0 cm
Accession No.
2023-00462
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of the family in memory of Mr Boon Yoon Chiang and Mrs Goldaline Boon

The silver epergne with the mark of Henry Mathews, a maker from Birmingham, England, belonged to a Peranakan family in Singapore. Its form, with one fixed and three detachable trumpets, is similar to the glass epergnes that were also used in Peranakan households to hold items such as bunga rampai (flower potpourri).Items such as these illustrate the increasingly Westernised lifestyles of the Chinese Peranakan community during the 20th century and would have complemented other tabletop items of European origin, such as English transferware dinner services.