Title
Beetle shaped hairpin
Year/Period
early 20th century
Region
Singapore
Material
Dimension
Object size: 1.1 x 2.0 x 5.8 cm
Accession No.
2016-00798
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Winson Tan in memory of the late Edward Tan TL
This gilded silver hairpin with diamonds is in the shape of a beetle. Hairpins like this would have been made for Peranakan women in the Straits Settlements to be worn as part of a wedding headdress. A Peranakan bride would tie her hair into a bun or sanggul and individual hairpins would have been stuck in to create a headdress. This hairpin is part of a set that comes from the collection of the family of prominent philanthropists and businessmen, Tan Kim Seng and Tan Jiak Kim.
