Recently one of my friends visited the Singapore's famous Peranakan Museum. As I am doing restoration of old schemes for embroidery, at my request, he made countless pictures of one of the most famous exhibits of this museum — the luxury wedding tablecloth embroidered with tiny beads with flowers and birds. Now I'm working on the process of recreating this beautiful scheme and can not stop admiring the skill and patience of Chinese painters and embroiderers which are unknown to us, unfortunately.

The story of this tablecloth is known not so much, but I was able to gather some information from various sources and from the photos of information on the stands next to this wonderful exhibit. I want to share them with you.

So, peranakans is an ethnic group that was formed in XV-XVII centuries by Chinese traders, who emigrated to the Malay archipelago and married Malay women. Later Peranakan were also named descendants from mixed marriages of Chinese and other nationalities in Southeast Asia, the Thais, the Indonesians, the Indians. In modern Singapore, peranakans constitute the elite and cherish their national traditions.
At the Peranakan Museum you can see traditional clothes and shoes, decorated with unique embroidery with beads, religious items and wedding rites, interiors of houses, household utensils.
And this luxurious beaded tablecloth dates from the beginning of the XX century. It was acquired by the museum in 2006. The size of the main embroidered canvas is 126 x 118 cm excluding long beaded tassels. The basis of the tablecloth is cotton. For it manufacture a strong silk thread was also used.
We don't know who embroidered this tablecloth and how much time they spent on it. It is only known that such cloths were traditionally embroidered for rich weddings, they cost a fortune and were a significant part of a dowry of the bride. This tablecloth was embroidered at the order of one wealthy local family. The original design was developed by unknown artists in traditional colours — the combination of pink and yellow on a turquoise background. Exotic birds, butterflies, dragonflies and about twenty different types of flowers are embroidered with the smallest seed beads. Seven large birds that make up the central composition of the tablecloth are European and South American birds. Among the sea of flowers we can see classic bouquets of European flowers and bouquets with tropical hibiscus and even a pineapple.

Now I invite you all to enjoy this magnificent wonder with all the details!