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 arranged spaced “holes”) became widespread century, a growing number of Perana- Road, sold similar titles.17 The motifs of neatly around the core of the flower, berlin woolwork & Co.3 Probably aimed at a Euro- among nyonya embroiderers (see figure kans started sending their daughters puppies, kittens, swans, and little girls much like the printed models in the Dutch A large number of sheet patterns were pean clientele, these patterns soon 4 on page 30). The bright hues and wide to school. The Singapore Chinese Girls’ and boys, found in the imagery of rhymes, magazine Gracieuse (see figure 3). This created to cater to the growing interest penetrated the design repertoire of colour spectrum of glass beads that School, aimed primarily at Peranakan fairy tales and children’s stories, rep- type of stylised “peony”, intertwined in Berlin wool embroidery on counted the nyonyas. Indicated by coloured could be purchased must have attracted Chinese girls, was founded in 1899 by resented an extension of the expanding with the presentation of floral sprays thread canvas in 19th-century Europe. squares, designs were easily copied Peranakan weavers, and the novelty Dr Lim and Khoo Seok Wan, another imaginary and real worlds of the young in a bouquet (popularly known in batik The threads of the canvas formed a on paper, or as embroidered sam- and range of sheet patterns available reform-minded local. Missionary edu- nyonya in the early 20th century. terminology as buketan), continued grid-like ground for embroidery. At plers,4 many of which still survive likely also encouraged the adoption of cators also had an impact. Methodist to be applied to embroidery right into first, the designs, produced in Germany, to this day (see figure. 5). this method. missionary Sophia Blackmore taught the 11 From Images to Text: the 1930s. were printed in black and white and The nyonyas’ favourite designs of daughters of Tan Keong Saik, a wealthy Cultural and Self Expressions The gold embroidery technique then coloured by hand on a printed grid cabbage roses and rosebuds, lilies, flower Peranakan Chinese merchant, and Notes on this work and another similar cloth rather like graph paper. Each coloured 1 Barbara J. Morris (2003), Victorian baskets, birds, furry animals and girls established a school at Cross Street in Around this time, the nyonyas’ newly ac- largely corresponds to what is found square corresponded to a stitch of the embroidery: An authoritative guide (pp. 20– in frocks circulated through samplers, Singapore, later to be renamed Fairfield quired literacy also expressed itself more in European military and ceremonial same colour on the canvas. Rather like 21). Mineola, New York: Dover. (Not available either copied from friends or purchased, Methodist Girls’ School. Elsewhere in directly. A table cover (not illustrated in this embroidery. The latter has a heart- a pixelated image, more subtle shading in NLB holdings) rather than in printed form (see figure 5). the Straits Settlements and Dutch East article) in a private collection is beaded with shaped motif surmounted by a fruiting could be achieved with a wider range of 2 See Ledbetter, K. (2012). Victorian needlework Based on designs that had been popular Indies, basic formal education for women unusually long text that reads: (p. 104). Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 12 stem at each of the four corners. The colours and more stitches (or squares) (Not available in NLB holdings) in Europe half a century earlier, the pat- was slowly gaining acceptance too. The heart-shaped design is atypical and per centimetre. 3 Frederick Lender & Co. advertised Berlin terns may be considered anachronistic, curriculum included reading and writing Here's to the bride and the bridegroom was probably adapted from European The earliest themes were floral, Wool and Patterns, for Embroidery in but the themes and motifs are entirely as well as hygiene and home-making We'll ask their success in our prayers, publications. but rapidly expanded to landscapes, The Straits Times, 26 November 1850, consistent with the stories that were being skills to equip the girls to become good Through life's dark shadow p. 2 (See Page 2 advertisements column Similar styles of floral decoration historical ruins and mythical figures, 2); W. J. Allan & Co. at Raffles Place introduced to the nyonyas at the time. A wives and mothers. and sunshine are found on late 19th century batiks and included designs based on paintings, offered Madame Gouband’s Berlin- little background history is pertinent to At school, the girls were introduced That good luck may ever be theirs. from the northern coast of Java. Certain such as English artist Edwin Landseer’s wool Instructions in The Straits Times, our understanding here. to European children’s literature. News- Indo-Dutch batik designers held exclu- animal studies.1 The number of patterns 21 September 1886, p. 2 (See Page 2 This coincided with the period when paper reports, albeit brief, provide a Don't worry about the future, sive rights to reproduce designs from grew equally quickly. In England alone, advertisements column 1); and Robinson local intelligentsia such as Dr Lim Boon sense of the growing interest in education The present is all thou hast, & Co. advertised canvas (an evenweave Dutch fashion journals, but artisans some 14,000 patterns were available by fabric) for wool work in Pinang Gazette and Keng and Song Ong Siang, founders of for girls. At the Teluk Ayer Girls’ School The future will soon be present also copied the designs from printed the late 1830s.2 Straits Chronicle, 18 September 1888, p. 1. the progressive Straits Chinese Maga- prize-giving ceremony in 1906, a pupil And the present will very soon be past. sources for re-sale, resulting in the Although its popularity had waned 4 A sampler refers to a piece of embroidery zine (1897–1907), were making efforts read an excerpt from The Water Babies spread of popular imagery.13 In the by the 1880s, Berlin woolwork was still that features a variety of stitches to champion education and literacy by Charles Kingsley.15 Eight years later in The quatrains, relating to marriage or motifs that serves as a model or case of needlework, embroiderers may carried out. In Singapore, imported reference. For examples, see Victoria and for women. But the idea faced resist- 1914, at another prize-giving ceremony, and the passing of time, suggest the piece have adapted patterns directly from the printed patterns and sewing mate- Albert Museum, London (2016). A history ance. Many Peranakan Chinese parents this time by the Singapore Chinese Girls’ was made for a wedding and appear to magazines themselves, or they may rials were distributed throughout of samplers. Retrieved from Victoria and were concerned that formal education School, one of the programmes featured have been copied verbatim, probably from have purchased samplers (see figure department stores such as Robinson Albert Museum website. was either irrelevant or would lead to girls (and a small number of boys) recit- a book of quotes and speeches.18 Sup- 5) or sheet patterns from the artisans. inappropriate or unbecoming modern ing popular English nursery rhymes.16 plementing or substituting conventional

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Chinese motifs, such phrases reiterate Baba Malay Books and Nyonya Needlework Fulushou, the Daoist deities representing the nature of needlework designs as prosperity, happiness and longevity.20 peranakan translations of nyonya whose family was from Bengkalis vehicles that conveyed benediction and The Peranakan Museum has a small Figure 9 shows a set of three- chinese classics in Sumatra, read Baba Malay translations good tidings. but significant number of nyonya ac- dimensional beadwork figurines and Before the advent of cinema, outdoor of the Chinese classics.2 Occasionally, embroidered text cessories with beaded and embroidered flowers used to decorate a sweetmeat performances and narrations by itin- speaks of an individual’s identity. Figure figures from popular Chinese myths and box (chanab) for the altar table. Acquired erant storytellers of excerpts from 6 shows a beaded belt from Sumatra. At legends. The most well-known figures in from a Peranakan Chinese family in Chinese literature were popular enter- Chinese myths and legends have provided in- the upper border in the middle of the belt, the Straits Settlements were the baxian Batavia (now Jakarta), these exceptional spiration for nyonya needlework designs. This is tainment for the Peranakan Chinese. In two hands depicted in black emerge from or Eight Immortals, and Xiwangmu, the and delightful figures come replete with an illustration of Cao Ren (spelled as Cho Jin in the late 19th century, local publishers a sawtooth pattern; the hands are clearly Queen Mother of the West, while a wider beards made of hair and crowns of beads the book) from volume 2 of Chrita Dahulu-kala, began issuing translations of Chi- Namanya Sam Kok, Atau, Tiga Negri Ber-prang: derived from newspaper advertisements selection was represented in needlework and gold thread. The figures are said to nese classics such as Water Margin Siok, Gwi, Sama Gor di Jaman “Han Teow”. Cao where they were frequently used to draw from the Dutch East Indies. Apart from represent the various male and female (Song Kang) and Romance of the Three Ren was a military general from the late Eastern attention to a headline. Here, they point Chinese embroidery pattern books, images Han dynasty. All rights reserved, Chan, K. B. Kingdoms (Sam Kok) in Baba Malay to “KWEENGSOEN”, probably the name found in Peranakan patois (Baba Malay) (1892–1896). Chrita Dahulu-kala, Namanya Sam vernacular for a Peranakan Chinese Kok, Atau, Tiga Negri Ber-prang: Siok, Gwi, Sama of the beader or the intended recipient of translations of popular Chinese classics (Anti-clockwise from top) Figure 6: Belt with bead embroidery, West Sumatra, reading public. Gor di Jaman “Han Teow”. Singapore: Kim Sek the belt, Kwee Ng Soen. Pots of flowers may have provided ideas and inspiration 1912. Pots of flowers – all Chinese auspicious sym- In the Dutch East Indies, children Chye Press. Collection of the National Library, − all Chinese auspicious symbols – are for their depictions (see text box opposite). bols – are aligned across the belt and identify it as Singapore. (Accession no.: B00607830B) from wealthier Peranakan Chinese aligned across the belt and identify it as The Baba Malay translations culturally Chinese in origin. Courtesy of the National families were taught to read, and culturally Chinese. included full-page illustrations, some- Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. “women [nyonyas] quickly shared a But look closely and a pair of Dutch times by local artists, following the Notes Figure 7: A pair of men's slippers with silver taste for reading with the men”.1 1 Salmon, C. (Ed.). (2013). Literary migrations: Traditional flags in the central cartouche declares format of Chinese woodblock pictures.19 and silk thread embroidery, Penang, early 20th The translations also found favour Chinese fiction in Asia (17th–20th centuries) (p. 258). Kwee Ng Soen’s allegience to the Dutch The names of the characters could be century. The words “Good Luck” are embroidered Singapore: ISEAS Publishing. (Call no.: R 895.134809 LIT) in the Straits Settlements. Lim Kim colonial government. They flank the inscribed on the page to aid the reader, amidst the floral decorations.Collection of the 2 Asad Latiff. (2009). Lim Kim San: A builder of San, a former government minister in number “1912” – the year after the Dutch thus making them familiar with the ico- Asian Civilisations Museum. Singapore (p. 13). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Singapore, recalls that his mother, a Asian Studies (Call no.: RSING 363.585092 ASA) and Chinese governments resolved their nography and depictions of figures from Figure 8: A beaded carrying case from West dispute over the nationality status of Chinese historical novels and legends. Sumatra, early 20th century. The text “TJERiTA- Dutch East Indies-born Chinese, allowing Figures in flowing Chinese period LOTON” on this side of the case refers to Cerita them to be considered as Dutch subjects robes and military costumes appear Luotong, or Luo Tong Sweeps the North, a Tang generals from Sie Djin Koei, another Tang powder through the holes onto the fabric. For an Asian Civilisations Museum. (Call no.: RSING dynasty military adventure. Courtesy of the National example, see Australia. Museum of Applied Arts 746.44089951 CHE) rather than Chinese citizens within Dutch more frequently on needlework from the Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. dynasty story on the exploits of General territory. Expressed through word and north coast of Java and Sumatra. Usually Xue Rengui that was popular with the & Sciences. (n.d.). Embroidery pattern book, wood 12 See tray cover embroidered with gold and silver block printed paper, China, 1875–1900. Retrieved thread (Accession no.: 2012-00875). Retrieved image, the belt is a striking comment lacking specific attributes, most figures Figure 9: Three-dimensional figurines and flowers Peranakan Chinese. from Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences website. from Roots.sg, National Heritage Board. on the tensions between cultural and are difficult to identify. However, the made of wire, glass beads and gold thread (from Enchanted by the tales of valour, 4 Morrall, A., & Watts, M. (2008). English embroidery 13 Veldhuisen, H. C. (1993). Batik Belanda 1840–1940 political identity that confronted the imagery on a beadwork case from West a set of 14 pieces) used to decorate a sweetmeat strategy, adventure and loyalty to the from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1580–1700: = Dutch influence in Batik from Java history and box for the altar table. From Batavia (Jakarta), late overseas Chinese. Sumatra (see figure 8) can be discerned emperor, the Peranakan Chinese re-cre- ‘Twixt art and nature’ (pp. 43–51, 61–63, 68–70, stories (pp. 40–41). Jakarta: Gaya Favorit Press. 19th century. Collection of the Peranakan Museum. 86–90,152–156). New York: Metropolitan Museum of (Call no.: RART q746.66209598 VEL) Much less complicated is figure by the following text: “TJERiTALOTON” ated their heroes and heroines in thread Art. (Call no.: RART 746.4409420903 ENG) 14 Neo, P. N. (1907, December). Gambling amongst our 7, where the words “Good Luck” are and “TjERiThoLOSiOE” (on the flip side). and beads. Inspired by the printed page, 5 See especially Speelberg, F. (2015, Fall). Fashion nyonyas [Microfilm no. NL 268]. The Straits Chinese embroidered amidst floral decoration These refer to Cerita Luotong, or Luo their embroidered images and words & virtue: Textile patterns and the print revolution, Magazine: A Quarterly Journal of Oriental and on this pair of men’s slippers dating Tong Sweeps the North, a Tang dynasty encoded moral values and virtues, and 1520–1620. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Occidental Culture, 11(4), 150–153, p. 153. Singapore: from the 1920s and 1930s. military adventure, and Hok Lok Siu or spoke of hopes, concerns, and of travers- Bulletin, 73 (2). Retrieved from The Metropolitan Koh Yew Hean Press. Museum of Art website. 15 The Teluk Ayer Chinese Girls’ School (1906, ing cultures, in a Peranakan world. 6 Schäfer, D. (2015). Patterns of design in Qing-China January 20). Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning and Britain during the seventeenth and eighteenth Advertiser, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. centuries. In M. Berg, et al., Goods from the East, 16 The Singapore Chinese Girls’ School. (1914, January 1600–1800: Trading Eurasia (p. 107). Houndmills, 26). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile The author would like to thank Deni- Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. (Call Advertiser, p. 12. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. sonde Simbol (Asian Civilisations no.: RSEA 382.09504 GOO) At this event, Lim Boon Keng, one of the founders Museum) and Jackie Yoong (Peranakan 7 Schäfer, 2015, p. 108. of the school, commented on the large number of 8 Seet, B. (2009). Peranakan beadwork: My pupils and the challenges of teaching English to Museum) for providing the images used heritage. Singapore: Bebe Seet. (Call no.: RSING pupils who spoke various other languages at home. in this article. 746.508995 SEE) 17 G.H. Kiat stocked a range of books and magazines, 9 De Dillmont’s guide was first published by the including Weldon’s Ladies’ Journal and “English producer of embroidery threads, Dollfus-Mieg & Cie Fashion Books”, as well as Bible stories for (now DMC), in France in 1884. The English edition children, fairy tales and nursery rhymes. See Notes was released in 1886. See De Dillmont, T. (1996). The advertisements: Page 4 Advertisements column 1 The term Peranakan means “local born” and generally complete encyclopedia of needlework. Philadelphia: 1: Kim Kiat & Co. (1918, December 31). The Malaya refers to people of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian Running Press. (Call no.: RART 746.403 DIL) Tribune, p. 4; Page 6 advertisements column 2: heritage. Peranakan males are known as babas while 10 See for example, a handkerchief or tray cover with Beautiful gift books. (1923, December 11). The females are known as nyonyas (or nonyas). silk thread embroidery (Accession no.: 1995-2461), Straits Times, p. 6. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. 2 Embroidery for the Peranakan kebaya in the rubric and two panels, possibly table covers, each with silk Titles offered by Koh & Co on Bras Basah Road of “nyonya needlework” is not included in this essay thread and gold thread embroidery, and a netted included Bo-Peep, Aesop’s Fables, and My book of as the former encompasses both hand and machine beadwork fringe along one edge (Accession nos.: Best Fairy Tales. See Page 5 advertisements column embroidery, and calls for a different disciplinary 2005-1292 and 2005-1328). Retrieved from Roots. 6: Gift books for X’mas presents. (1919, December 17). focus. Its evolution is superbly explored by Peter sg, National Heritage Board. The Straits Times, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. Lee. See Lee, P. (2014). Sarong kebaya: Peranakan 11 For examples, see a pair of slipper faces with silver 18 Cheah, 2017, p. 249. fashion in an interconnected world 1500–1950. thread embroidery (Accession no.: 2015-02101) 19 Salmon, 2013, pp. 257–258. On Chan Kim Boon’s Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum. (Call no.: and slipper faces embroidered with glass beads translations of Song Kang and Sam Kok, see also RSING 391.20899510595 LEE-[CUS] (Accession no.: 2015-02100). Retrieved from Roots. Mazelan Anuar. (2015). A Chinese classic in Baba 3 Transferring the printed design onto fabric involved sg, National Heritage Board; Cheah, H-F. (2017). Malay. BiblioAsia, 11(4), 54–55. Retrieved from pricking tiny holes in the paper pattern along its Nyonya needlework: Embroidery and beadwork in BiblioAsia website. outline and pouncing or dabbing charcoal or chalk the Peranakan world (fig. 2.16, p. 39). Singapore: 20 Cheah, 2017, p. 220.

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