Antique Nyonya Clogs With Leather Straps

Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Clogs are used worldwide and although the form may vary by culture, within a culture, the form often remained unchanged for centuries.

Traditional clogs were often worn in heavy labor. Today, they remain in use as protective clothing in agriculture and in some factories and mines. Although clogs are sometimes negatively associated with cheap and folkloric footwear of farmers and the working class, some types of clogs are considered as fashion wear today.

Pictures below show the antique Nyonya clogs from my collection. From an era long gone by, the traditional clogs called "terompah" were usually worn within the confines of the home. In Penang and Malacca town today, clog makers still hand made this type of footwear in a variety of sizes, colours and designs, with an addition of low or high heeled. The top cover can be made from leather, plastic or canvas.

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19th Century Chinese Brass Splitting-Spring Padlocks With Keys

The development of locks arises psychologically from practical needs on safety for individuals, groups, or for individuals within groups. Though with a long history and for their hardly noticeable nature in China, very few curio collectors set their eyes on locks and very few scholars focused their study on locks.

The history of Chinese locks is in close association with the materials, tools and cultural background of a specific time. The development and applications of locks in the past reflected the technological, cultural and economical situations of each period in their history. Ever since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, metal splitting spring padlocks such as these featured, had always been the most widely used locks by Chinese people. Though the shapes of ancient Chinese locks diversified, the inner structures have not changed much for the past two thousand years.

According to the development of various materials throughout history, ancient Chinese locks were made of wood, bronze, brass, red bronze, nickel, iron, silver, gold, steel and aluminum. The early broad locks found were mostly made of bronze, later brass was the most popular, followed by iron.

Pictures below showing two traditional Chinese splitting-spring padlocks complete with the keys. Long and narrow, it was customarily attached across the front of a two-door cabinet, trunk or chest. However, they can also be used to lock anything and make a nice decorative element on their own and work extremely smooth.


Padlock 1
Length : 8.5cm

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Padlock 2
Length : 7cm

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