Nyonya Embroideries We Know of Patterns, Typically from Woodblocks, Date to the Mid-19Th Century
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BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2017 Vol. 13 / Issue 03 / Feature Symbolism and Ornamentation extant nyonya embroideries we know of patterns, typically from woodblocks, date to the mid-19th century. Women’s made it easier for embroiderers to re- Nyonya needlework is characterised footwear and purses were the most produce conventional imagery in thread. by exquisite workmanship, complex commonly embroidered items, but it However, few have managed to survive as Cheah Hwei-Fe’n examines the impact of textures and fine motifs, often out of was at wedding celebrations that nyonya these printed papers have degraded over print media on the time-honoured craft of scale with each other. Patterns were needlework was at its most glorious, time when designs were transferred onto 3 Peranakan embroidery and beadwork. often worked in silk floss and twisted taking the form of soft furnishings in fabric. Extant Qing dynasty (1644−1911) NYONYA silk yarns, iridescent peacock feath- the nuptial chamber and accessories for pattern books carried a range of arche- ers, glass and metal beads, and gold the wedding couple and their entourage typal designs, from individual motifs of and silver threads of different textures. (see figure 1). birds and flowers that could be arranged The interplay of luxurious materials and Befitting such occasions, nyonya by the embroiderer to more intricate and NEEDLEWORK AND THE kaleidoscopic colours have all conspired needlework was typically decorated completed compositions for purses and to create highly decorative, tactile and with auspicious images of flowers, shoes. These pattern books also included scintillating surfaces. animals and precious objects drawn complex scenes featuring mythological Whether they were stitched by Per- from Chinese art and symbols. Chinese figures, warriors and Taoist deities. anakan Chinese women in a domestic embroidered textiles provided the Since the 16th century, European setting or by professional craftspeople, models for many designs. Imagery for artisans, including professional and nyonya needlework embodied labour needlework could also have been copied amateur embroiderers, have adapted PRINTED PAGE and expensive materials, communicat- from furniture, silverwork and ceram- illustrations from printed herbals (trea- ing both wealth and fine taste. Their ics found in the homes of Peranakan tises on plants as medicine and food) designs also incorporated the use Chinese families. These familiar motifs and bestiaries (descriptions of real and of symbols, stories and customs. In conveyed wishes for good fortune, lon- mythical animals) as well as engravings the closely-knit circles of Peranakan gevity, a blissful marriage, successful in bibles and almanacs.4 Pattern books Chinese society, family reputations progeny and good health. for embroiderers were also published were fiercely guarded and a person’s Print media offered yet another around this time, becoming an endur- behaviour was closely scrutinised and exciting visual resource, opening up ing source for contemporary sewing often critiqued. In such an environment, a new treasure trove of designs and cultures.5 Later, embroidery patterns, Singapore’s national respository of nyonya symbolic and non-verbal cues were facilitating the spread of new themes influenced by current fashion trends needlework, comprising the embroidery equally indicative of one’s upbringing, and ideas in nyonya needlework. and accompanied by stitching instruc- and beadwork of the Peranakan1 (or understanding of tradition and family tions, were published in European sStraits Chinese) community from Singa- background, and some of these aspects women’s magazines. Embroidery and Printed Patterns pore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar, filtered into nyonya needlework designs. Historian Dagmar Schäfer argues is unsurpassed as a public collection. The practice of embroidery in For centuries now, the printed page that printed patterns and guide books Enhanced in recent years through acquisi- Peranakan Chinese culture goes back has offered prototypes for embroidery can be understood as part of “an incipi- tions and gifts, the quality of the objects at least 300 years, although the oldest designs. Chinese books of embroidery ent knowledge codification process”.6 and their diversity of styles show how Their portable format enabled informa- imitation, innovation and cultural bor- (Facing page) Figure 4: A panel with glass bead embroidery on counted thread canvas, probably from tion to be transferred between mer- rowing have all contributed to the art of Penang, early 20th century. The crested cockatoos, pansies, dahlias and forget-me-nots are motifs adopted chants, craftsmen and customers as nyonya needlework.2 from European woolwork patterns. Collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum. well as across “cultural and knowledge Nyonya needlework has its roots in the (Below) Figure 1: A Peranakan wedding couple with a child attendant, early 20th century. Wedding cel- spheres.” It did not matter if the audi- ebrations often showcased nyonya needlework in the form of accessories for the wedding couple and aesthetics of Chinese embroidery, drawing their entourage, and soft furnishings in the nuptial chamber. Photograph by Che Lan & Co, Jogjakarta. ence was illiterate because historical on a well-established set of symbols to Collection of the Peranakan Museum. Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee. pattern books contained minimal text.7 convey form and meaning. But embroider- Printed images – in books, magazines ers have also turned to other sources for and newspapers, calenders, and even novel patterns and inspiration. Some of the packaging paper – facilitated the dis- beadwork and embroidery on display at the semination and transmission of designs Peranakan Museum in Singapore illustrate both within and across cultures. the connections between print and pattern The first instructional text on in nyonya needlework, highlighting the role nyonya beadwork was published only of the print media. as recently as 2009 by a Singaporean Pattern books, fashion magazines, beader Bebe Seet.8 But the impact of journals, Chinese classical texts, and the printed page can be found much even children’s books have played a role earlier in nyonya needlework. Books in introducing new motifs as well as the and fashion magazines were imported translation of information into visual form. into the Straits Settlements (compris- ing Penang, Melaka and Singapore) Dr Cheah Hwei-Fe’n is an art historian with and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) an interest in embroidery. She was a visiting in the 1800s, as were Berlin woolwork researcher at the Centre of Art History and Art (see text box overleaf) patterns where Theory at the Australian National University, and designs were marked out on point paper was a guest curator of the exhibition “Nyonya (similar to graph paper). Needlework: Embroidery and Beadwork in the Initially sold through shops catering Peranakan World”, which ended its one-year run to Europeans, these woolwork patterns at Singapore’s Peranakan Museum in June 2017. would have become more widely available 30 31 BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2017 Vol. 13 / Issue 03 / Feature over time and crossed the seas into this part of the world. The names handwrit- ten inside some books indicate that the nyonyas had in their possession pattern books and stitch guides such as the 1920s Chinese Sun Sun Cross Stitch Book series and Thérèse de Dillmont’s Encyclopedia of Needlework.9 These publications would surely have had an impact on nyonya embroidery and bead- ing. The following examples illustrate how print media enlarged the design world of nyonya needlework. (Left) Figure 3: Embroidery designs from the Dutch Cross-Cultural Peonies magazine Gracieuse: Geïllustreerd Aglaja, 1868, installment 3, p. 28. The floral motif at the top right- In Chinese paintings and embroider- hand corner is similar to the design found at the ies, the peony is usually depicted in four corners of the embroidered square in figure 2. (Above) Figure 5: A beadwork sampler is a piece full bloom with frilly- or wavy-edged of embroidery that features a variety of stitches petals. They can be depicted in the or motifs that serves as a model or reference. manner commonly seen in nyonya This sampler from either Singapore or Penang embroideries, or with more stylised (c. 20th century) features a girl, a duck and flow- ers. Collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum. smooth-edged petals.10 A third variation of the “peony”, especially in the gold embroideries of Java, is associated An Expanding World: Fairy Tales behaviour. They agonised, for instance, Anthologies of fairy tales, nursery rhymes with designs found in European fashion and Furry Animals “if the Nyonyas are properly educated, and female explorers were distributed journals, as in figure 2. following Western ideas, they will resent as prizes. Figure 2 shows a handkerchief Figure 2: Tray cover or handkerchief with gold embroidery of floral stems at each corner, probably from Java, In the early 20th century, beadwork the neglect of their husbands and take to Local bookstores, such as G.H. late 19th or early 20th century. Courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. or tray cover embroidered with floral on counted thread canvas (fabric with something worse than gambling”.14 Kiat at Change Alley and the Peranakan stems at each corner. The petals have a regular weave and small, regularly Nevertheless, by the early 20th Chinese-owned Koh & Co at Bras Basah scalloped edges and are