A preview of the chapter on this topic to form part of the forthcoming monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks and Identities. (see A Monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks in the Making 2 Jan 2009 http://www.peranakannetworks.com/blog/?p=61)

Cheah Hwei Fen’s chapter touches on an aspect of Peranakan Material Culture in the Northern Littoral of Southeast Asia, nyonya needlework, a subject which has received relatively little attention in the scholarly literature on the Peranakan. Two types of embroidery, metallic thread and silk thread, and beadwork are examined. A distinctive Penang version can be detected. At the same time, there is evidence of socio-cultural links with relative uniformity in styles and subject matter found in the embroidery of Penang, Melaka, Singapore and Palembang.

Detail from a bead-netted fringe. Penang, first quarter of the 20th century. Private collection. Photo: H. Cheah