The ceramic tiles originally decorated the grave of Mr Wang Xijin who passed away in 1932. Mr Wang’s grave was one of over 3,700 graves that were exhumed between 2013 and 2014 for the construction of a new road through Bukit Brown Cemetery. Among the exhumed graves, several were decorated with polychrome tiles featuring peacock motifs such as that of Mr Wang’s. The intact slab of six tiles decorated part of the offering table installed at Mr Wang’s grave, while the individual tiles showing a peacock with its outspread train, were used to decorate the tomb shoulders. The attractive plumage of the peacock, coupled with its association with nobility, dignity, and good fortune in traditional Chinese culture, contributed to its popularity as a decorative motif. Located in the central part of Singapore, Bukit Brown Cemetery was officially opened on 1 January 1922 by the British colonial government as a public cemetery for non-Christian Chinese. It came to house an estimated 100,000 graves before it was officially closed to burials in 1973.
