Small Straits Chinese Spittoons

Pictures below are two little small and cute green spittoons which normally can be seen in the Straits Chinese family.

It is small in size and to be used by the Nyonyas or Bibiks chewing sirih or betel leaves. It is small enough to sit on the palm of your hands. It is with floral motifs and would normally be placed on the table, together with the tepak sirih.


Spittoon 1

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Spittoon 2

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Large Chinese Steelyard Balance Scale

This is a large Chinese steelyard balance scale bought from Ipoh long time ago.

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Old Dragon And Phoenix Teapot

This is a nice old dragon and phoenix teapot inherited to me.

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Kelingkang Embroidered Curtain Tie Backs

This is an old star-shaped Malay kelingkang embroidered curtain tie backs for the sleeping bed.

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Silver Belt

Found this in Sarawak. Who have seen this before? Very unique, isn't it?

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Antique Sterling Silver English Mesh Chainmail Purse

Call it a handbag, etui, necessaire, compact, purse, hand bag, clutch, flapper novelty or whatever regional term you like, made from chain maille, chain mail, chainmail, chainmaille, chain link, metal mesh or fabric, it is just cool. LOL

Size : 17.5cm x 17cm

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"Alpacca" Marked Mesh Purse

If you find a piece of jewellery or an old metal object for a good price that looks a lot like silver. Being an astute picker, you look for clues to identify the piece and discover that it’s marked nickel silver, German silver or alpaca. Does that mean your item is really some form of old silver? Unfortunately, the answer is no. If the dealer suggests that the item is true silver they may be mistaken or simply lying. As in all trades, however, it's up to the buyer to know the difference between truly valuable products and clever substitutes.

Jewellery items with a gray metallic finish, not quite as shiny as sterling silver, are often found marked alpacca. This type of alloy, sometimes spelt alpaca, indicates a metal that contains copper, zinc and nickel along with tin. These items are often decorated with abalone insets or other stones. While they can be nice looking, any intrinsic value is based on craftsmanship or history and not on the value of the metal itself.

Alpacca pieces are often of Mexican or South American origin. Other larger decorative objects can also be marked alpacca. This substance can sometimes be used as a base metal for silver-plated wares as well. Alpacca is also referred to as “new silver” from time to time. Like nickel silver, alpacca has no actual silver content and no scrap value.

Size : 13cm x 12cm

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Dayak Beaded Panel For Baby Carrier

This is a very interesting, unique panel (aban) beaded with coloured glass beads.

The central beaded panel has a central demon figure surrounded by white hornbill head motifs. The curled tendril-like motifs are characteristic of Kayan/Kenyah Dayak art. The panel is meant to be attached to the baby carrier.

Size : 31cm x 31cm

Do browse to my previous post about the "Beaded Cane Baby Carrier Of Kenyah Dayak People From Borneo".

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Borneo Antique Ear Studs

These three pairs of lovely ear studs were bought from an antique dealer in Kuching, Sarawak. Very nice and unique.


Ear Stud 1

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Ear Stud 2

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Ear Stud 3

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Chinese Embroidered Child's Collar

An absolutely stunning and rare example of Chinese art which was been made for a child c1900. A beautiful silk hand embroidery worked into exotic flowers for the whole collar design, which is like flower petals.

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Tekat

Tekat, the Malay art of embroidery is centuries old. It is kept alive by a select group of women who have mastered the refined art. Its beauty and origins can be traced back to the royal palace. Hundreds of years ago, only the occupants of royal households could afford to have cushions, pillows, bedsheets and handbags that had embossed golden patterns and designs.

But "tekatan benang emas" (gold thread embroidery) eventually found its way into homes of the ordinary folks as those who have studied the embroidery art started their own business to cater for growing demand.

In the old days the embroidery art used real gold thread which was imported from France. However, in recent years the price of gold has gone through the roof and has escalated beyond the reach of most of these skilled artisans.

This embroidery art is the proud heritage of the Malay community.

Size : 11cm x 20cm

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Silver Chinese Grooming Set

This fine silver grooming set is from Southern China. It comprises a chain made up of interlinked prunus or plum blossom motifs which allows the set to be suspended from a belt, and five grooming tools suspended from the separate chains.

The tools comprise of an ear cleaner, a toothpick, a nail cleaner, a tongue scraper and a pair of tweezers. Overall, this is an unusual and decorative set.

Do check on my previous posts about the other grooming sets.

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Sireh Box

This richly ornamented box, also known as a 'cembul', refers to any circular receptacle with a tightly fitted lid or a round, globular container divided to form two tight concave parts. These small boxes were devised to hold tobacco along with sliced areca nuts so that the user did not have to carry the whole sireh set with them.

Betel chewing was practised throughout the Malay Archipelago for centuries, and was common to all social classes. The practice remained popular until the mid 20th century. People chewed betel for its mildly narcotic effects and as a social activity. Betel chewing played a vital part in every important ceremony – from weddings to funerals.

Do browse my previous posts for all the other betel-related antiques.

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Antique Chinese Lacquer Pillow

Pillow is used as a support of the body at rest for comfort, therapy or decoration.

Chinese pillows were traditionally solid, though sometimes used with a softer fabric over them. Over many Chinese dynasties, pillows were made from a wide range of materials including bamboo, jade, porcelain, wood and bronze. The Chinese decorated their pillows by making them different shapes and painting pictures of animals, humans and plants on them.

Pictures below showing the antique Chinese lacquer pillow commonly used to compliment the opium bed.

Length : 25cm, Width : 14cm, Height : 10cm

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Dirham Aceh Gold Coin

Dirham is the name of a currency that was used for gold coins, which were ordered at the time of the Sultanate of Samudera Pasai. It's not easy to see the coin nowadays, because the remains of debris from the kingdom era is near to extremely hard to find, except for buildings or objects that has been saved by the government to serve as tourist attractions.

This Dirham only has a size of less than half an inch, but the material is pure gold, and was told, has a selling price of $80 per chip. Which really is a currency that has high value.

Dirham currencies in Aceh, according to historians, has been made since the 12th century BC, or about 800 years ago.

Like most of the other coins, this Dirham currency also has two sides, head and tail. The inscriptions on the coins are the early form of Malay language written in Jawi alphabet, to identify the sultan and the date of his reign.

Diameter : 1.3cm

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Petrus Regout / Royal Sphinx Deep Dish

Pictures below showing a Petrus Regout deep dish made in Holland. The mark at the base of the dish is characteristic of those used on Delftware, which was used from 1879ca.

Diameter : 31.5cm, Height : 7.5cm

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