We are pleased to announce that SEACS has arranged a guided tour of the Alice and Peter Tan Collection at the NUS Museum on 18 July at 2:30 PM for members and their families. The donation focuses on coloured-ground porcelains, representative of those used in affluent Peranakan Chinese households across Southeast Asia during the 19th and early 20th centuries. These ceramics were primarily vessels for food and drink, and for religious offerings. This collection complements the broader holdings of Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics at the NUS Museum and NUS Baba House. It enhances the chronological display of Chinese ceramics from the Lee Kong Chian Collection, the archaeological sherds from Singapore and the region, and the domestic wares at Baba House, many of which were sourced from Peranakan families.
“The selection of porcelains on display forms part of a generous gift from Mrs Alice Tan, who began assembling the collection in the 1980s from sources in Singapore and Malaysia–a period that paralleled growing public interest in Peranakan heritage…. this collection complements the broader holdings of Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics at the NUS Museum and NUS Baba House. It enhances the chronological display of Chinese ceramics from the Lee Kong Chian Collection, the archaeological sherds from Singapore and the region, and the domestic wares at Baba House, many of which were sourced from Peranakan families.”
Guest of Honour Adjunct Associate Professor Kwa Chong Guan, a life member and former President of SEACS gave the opening address at the book launch of the collection; we thank him for the information he shared with us then and here on our website. His closing remarks at the opening were “What we are seeing are not just beautiful objects. These objects are about the stories we tell about ourselves, and the communities we build in the process of storytelling.” – excerpts from the NUS Museum website