All the seasonal festivals of the Chinese lunar calendar and the major rites of passage from birth to death are celebrated by the Penerakans in a fastidiously traditional manner that in China has long become extinct. Of these, the most elaborate were weddings, birthdays, ancestral rites and funerals.

The wealthy Peranakans enacted these rites with great ostentation, and acquired the finest items for these purposes, leaving a fabulously rich legacy of material culture – from textiles, to jewellery to ritual vessels and furniture in expensive materials such as gold, silver, porcelain, silks, velvets, teak and blackwood.

Most of the artifacts were commissioned but Peranakan beadwork and embroidery were actually made by members of the community. Unmarried Peranakan women, known as Nonyas, often dedicated their time to beading and embroidery and produced many intricate and exquisite items, combining European and Chinese motifs in a totally unique and vibrant way. The quality and quantity of beadwork and embroidery was a mark of their eligibility for marriage. Many of these items were created in preparation for their wedding, such as beaded shoes, beaded panels for the bridal bed and embroidered ceremonial handkerchiefs or covers for fine vessels.

Whether in gold or silk or porcelain the favoured motifs were auspicious symbols of fertility, wealth, happiness and longevity, such as the phoenix, bats and cranes, and flowers like the peony. All these have of course become treasured heirlooms.


Getting There
The nearest MRT stations are Paya Lebar and Eunos. Bus nos. 15, 16, 33, 155 take you to Choo Jiat Road and Joo Chiat Place; Bus no. 10, 12, 14, 32, 40, and 155 service East Coast Road.