Silver Pillow Ends / Bantal Plates

It was customary for the Peranakan Chinese, in the days gone by, to attach specially crafted pieces of silver plates to the opposite ends of pillows and bolsters intended for the bridal bed. This was a practice which the traditional Straits Chinese borrowed from the natives of Malacca. The custom was not indigenous to China, for pillow and bolster plates were never used in ancient China. Such plates for the pillow and bolster, known as "bantal kepala" and "bantal peluk" respectively, are among the most commonly encountered samples of Straits silver work, and most of the older generations of Nyonyas in Penang, Malacca and Singapore usually treasure a few pairs of these bantal plates as of family heirlooms.

Generally, there are two types of bantal plates, one for pillow ends and the other for bolster ends. They usually come in pairs with holes along the edges for stitching it onto the ends of the pillow and bolster. They had also been regularly used by upper class Malays and the royalty. The Malay bantal plates are differ from those of the Straits Chinese in their overall decorative designs, in accordance with the precepts of Islam, consisted exclusively of formalized floral and foliate motifs arranged in arabesque patterns. The decorative designs of the Straits Chinese types of bantal plates in other hand, adhered to the traditional Chinese style of employing a heterogeneous collection of mythical and propitious symbols with phoenixes, peonies and the Eight Buddhist Emblems recurring frequently.

Pictures below show the bantal plates (bantal kepala and bantal peluk) from my collection.

A pair of bantal kepala plate.

One of a pair of bantal kepala plate.

One of a pair of bantal kepala plate.

One of a pair of bantal kepala plate.

The details of the workmanship.

One of a pair of bantal kepala plate.

One of a pair of bantal kepala plate.

The details of the workmanship.

A pair of bantal peluk plates.

One of a pair of bantal peluk plate.

One of a pair of bantal peluk plate.

A pair of bantal peluk plates.

One of a pair of bantal peluk plate.

One of a pair of bantal peluk plate.

One of a pair of bantal peluk plate.

One of a pair of bantal peluk plate.

Also see the "Beaded Pillow Ends".