Mirror Tapis (Tapis Kaca)

This tapis was found in an antique shop in Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore.  It glimmers in the light because of the mirrorrs and metallic threads.  Here, I use it as a table cloth.

Tapis are elaborate skirts made in Lampung province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Women wore them with matching jackets during special events and ceremonies. Tapis were high-status ceremonial textiles that indicated the social rank of the wearer and her family. People also gave these skirts away as prestige gifts to indicate a family’s wealth and social standing. Tapis therefore were associated with power, status, and wealth.

The more elaborate the skirt and those with the most gold-wrapped threads denoted the highest rank. Widows’ skirts, however, had limited decoration.

Traditional colours on tapis cloths include dark red, browns, indigo blue, dark green, ochre-yellow, and cream. The main decorative materials comprise horizontal, coloured stripes, gold- and silver wrapped threads, beads, pieces of felt and woven wool, and coloured yarns. The metal-wrapped threads, felt, wool, and coloured threads are couched (attached with stitches; 'cucuk') onto the surface of the cloth.

The metal-wrapped threads are fastened to the fabric with threads sewn in a pattern, a decorative technique called 'sasab'. Sometimes the gold-wrapped threads were attached to paper-card before being couched onto the fabric. In addition to couching decorative materials to the cloth, the weavers also used brightly coloured yarns to embroider patterns onto the skirts. 'Cermuk' (pronounced chermuk) was the application of mirrors and mica to the tapis cloth. Since tapis are elaborate productions, making one could take up to a year.

Hmong Runner

I bought this runner from a shop in Chinatown, Singapore.  The owner bought the textile and sewed a golden Thai silk textile around it.  

Hmong living in Thailand, Laos, Burma and Vietnam number around 1 million and are divided into four sub-groups; the White Hmong, Striped Hmong, Red, Blue and Black Hmong. It is from the Hmong in Laos that most of our antique silver jewellery and textiles come. The Hmong were the first hill tribe group to successfully cultivate opium and are known to be shrewd entrepreneurs.

Today opium poppy cultivation by the Hmong is much reduced as result of government and international pressure and cash crops such as coffee and fruit trees have taken its place.

Despite the pressures to conform to life in the 21^st century, the ancient Hmong culture remains deeply woven into the fabric of their beings and they remain profoundly and proudly Hmong.

Mru woman tubeskirt

This skirt is bought from a local antique textile dealer in Singapore.  It can be hung on a textile hanger for display.  It has very fine workmanship. It came from Bangladesh where the Mru live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the borderland between Burma, Inda and Bangladesh.

The skirts are narrow - 24 cm in width - and tubular in construction with a hand sewn fell seam.  The skirt is worn fairly low slung on the hips and coming to the top of the thighs. Bead and coin belts are worn at the top of the skirt to secure it. The one block of woven pattern is worn in the centre-back of the skirt -  The top and bottom of the skirt are edged with fine beads worked into the weaving. Originally the skirts were the only clothing worn with the breasts left bare. Later a shawl was tied across one shoulder.

The Mru are primarily located in the region where the borders of India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar intersect. Some live in one of the nearly two hundred villages located in the tropical forests of the Chittagong Hills in southeast Bangladesh. Most however, are concentrated in the plains and hills of western Myanmar's Arakan Yoma district, or in the Jalpaiguri district of northeastern India.

Peranakan Pink Runner

This is a Peranakan or Straits Chinese runner that I bought from a local antique store in Amoy Street.  It features playful dog-lions. 





The Peranakan Chinese (Peranakans) is an acculturated Chinese population residing in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Phuket. They are more commonly referred to as the Babas and Nonyas (Nyonyas) in Penang. They were also referred to as the Straits-born Chinese or Straits Chinese who were predominantly British citizens prior to Malaya’s independence, in differentiation from their contemporary new Chinese immigrants (sinkehs), in the late 19th to early 20th centuries.
Although there were Peranakan Chinese communities in Indonesia centuries earlier, the Peranakan material culture as we know of today was derived from the Peranakans who evolved in this region from the mid-18th century. There is no documented significant permanent Chinese population in Portuguese Malacca and a significant number of Chinese immigrants from South China only began to migrate to Malacca in the 1750’s coinciding with the relaxation of Chinese travel laws by the Emperor Qianlong in 1754. These early Chinese immigrants would likely to have taken regional native women, some of whom were bought as slaves, as their spouses. In Penang, early Chinese settlers from Kedah had followed Francis Light to Prince of Wales Island upon its establishment in 1786. Similarly in 1819 when Stamford Raffles ‘founded’ Singapore, the initial Chinese settlers had moved from Dutch Malacca which was in a state of economic decline.
As the local Chinese population became established and grew in numbers, their children would inter-marry giving rise to a recognisable Peranakan community. The Chinese immigrants who arrived later, up to the early 20th century, would marry the daughters of Peranakan families, frequently in a matrilocal arrangement, and became assimilated into the Peranakan fold. By the turn of the 20th century, there was increasing exposure to the education and language of the colonial rulers resulting in the Anglicisation of the Peranakan Chinese population in pre-independent Malaya.

This gradual evolution of the immigrant Chinese from the mid-18th to the early 20th century resulted in the development of an interesting and unique community which is inherently Chinese in their traditional religious beliefs and practices but incorporating indigenous social habits, culinary tastes and costumes, pari passu with the development of a hybridised Malay-Chinese (mainly Hokkien dialect) mode of communication which is known as Baba or Malay patois today. In Penang, the incorporation of Malay words into the Penang Hokkien dialect has also given rise to a unique spoken language by the babas and nonyas there. Eventually the increasing exposure to European influences led to the use of English as their lingua franca and the mass conversion of Malacca and Singapore Peranakans to Christianity.

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Burmese Antique Vest

This very finely woven Burmese (Chin) tribal vest is bought from a local antique dealer, Percy Veloo and it hangs on an antique loom stick. 

The Chin ethnic group consists of about 50 subgroups, and whilst each shares common customs, there is a degree of variation among them. Textiles passed down the family — memories of weddings and other important events — are considered treasured possessions but may be sold by families during difficult financial times.

Different motifs represent the wearer’s status, signifying whether someone is married or what position they have in the village hierarchy. For example, a young woman dressed in traditional designs, signifies that she is open to being.

The Chin is a Sino-Tibetan race, thought to have descended from central China. Within Burma, this little known people predominantly inhabit Chin State, which is located in the mountainous north-west of the country, bordering Bangladesh (to the west) and India (to the north). It is estimated that approximately half a million Chin live within Chin State, with an additional one million living inside Bangladesh and India. There is a concentration of Chin living on the Indo-Burman border, in a place known as Chinland.

The Chin don't recognize the name Chin and prefer to be referred to after their individual tribes, which include the Asho, Cho, Khumi, Kuki, Laimi, Lushai and Zomi tribes. It is said that the name Chin is similar in pronunciation to the Burmese word for basket and that the Burmese used the name for the people because of the baskets they often carry. In contrast, it is written that Chin means companion in Burmese and the terms "Chin" and "Chindwin" are mentioned in the Pagan inscriptions from the beginning of the 13th century AD.

Vietnam Hmong Tribal Cloths

This Vietnam hill tribe cotton throw is in perfect harmony in a cormer where I displayed other tribal artefacts such as a Burmese basket, tribal shield and tribal drum.

Similarly the beaded cloth above gives a nice touch to the railings leading to the garden.

For centuries clothing colour and style has been used to distinguish and name Hmong subgroups. Hence each Hmong group has certain characteristics eg Red, Black, Green or Flower Hmong but within each of these groups there is a huge variety in clothing style from one village to another.

The Hmong are famous for their embroidery and also batik which is seen in the wide variety of costumes seen throughout Northern Vietnam. 

Antique Chinese Gold & Silver Thread Sleeve Band

This is a rare antique Chinese sleeve band with gold and silver thread emboidery. I bought this from Holland Village Shopping Centre, Singapore.  It once formed part of the costume like the one below.  You can see the details in the close up picture.

In the foreground is a antique celadon censer that goes well with the embroidery.

Embroidery is a very long established art form in China.  It was never classified as a solely female activity and men and women have both been involved in embroidery. 

The items embroidered are quite diverse and include robes, theatrical costumes, purses, shoes, spectacle cases, banners, alter cloths and many other pieces.  Some of the pieces were so finely stitched that the pieces took 5-6 people several years to complete. 

Embroidery was also used as a means of decorating silk clothing and for silk flags and banners as a means of denoting rank or station. 

The finest pieces of work were very expensive.  Gradually, embroidery developed, as a pastime for wealthy ladies and many members of the court were renowned for their intricate work.