Title
Brown-and-gold dressing table
Year/Period
20th century
Region
Acquired in Singapore
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: Refer to parts
Accession No.
2019-00496
Collection of
This brown-and-gold dressing table came from the house of Lim Yew Teok (1857-1925), located at 141 Neil Road. Lim Yew Teok was a shareholder of the Chinese Commercial Bank, which was established in 1912 and in 1932 merged with Ho Hong Bank and Overseas Chinese Bank to form Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. He was also the owner of several godowns at Ho Puah Quay.Dressing tables were part of a nyonya’s trousseau which also included a bed, a washstand and basin. Peranakan wedding furniture was traditionally made of namwood, lacquered red and gilded in parts, but in the 1930s the already limited supply of namwood dwindled as a result of the civil war in China, prompting local cabinet makers to work with teakwood increasingly instead.
