This museum was housed in the former residence of tycoon Chung Keng Quee, the richest man in Penang in the late 1800's. The residence was named Hai Kee Chan , Sea Remembrance Hall. It contains thousands of items related to the Peranakan heritage. Peranakan is the name given to Southern Chinese immigrants that immigrated from 14th to 17th centuries and intermingled with the local cultures and people. The building itself had fallen into disrepair and was bought in the 1990's and renovated. It is now filled with a hodge-podge of Peranakan artifacts that are owned by the man who renovated the building. It suffers from an embarrassment of riches. Each and every niche is filled with items and there is little in the way of context offered to the visitor. It reminded me of an old antique shop whose owner never sold anything but continued to buy more things, stacking them in the store anywhere they would fit. It was fun poking around and looking in every little corner.
Gearing up for the Chinese New Year
Rick Shaw
The interior courtyard
Period costumes were available for rent.
We saw many folks dressed in these costumes taking pictures
A hybrid style of architecture mixing the Chinese style with the European styles
Flowers and red lanterns
A great set of etched and painted glass windows
The pictures were not labeled bu this may be a young Chung Keng Quee
Followed by a much older Chung Keng Quee
The opium smoker
All the tiles came from England and were made at Stoke-on Trent
They complement the carved wood pieces nicely
So many hand carved wooden accents
One mythical beast of many here
There were two rows of these elephant planters
A bit of a Yoda lookalike
Gold for sale. This was a consignment shop right in the middle of the museum
In the section that contained the gems and the crowns
Emeralds
These emeralds had both a picture of them being worn as well as a gemologist report
76 carats of emeralds, diamonds and the setting
A golden fish encapsulating a fine piece of jade
Another crown
Jade jade jade
Golden peacocks
Enough karats to choke a bunny
A red coral kio
These pieces of jewelry were made from kingfisher feathers
These specific types of kingfishers to be exact
That is why the color is still strong after 100 plus years
Mother of pearl inlay
huge jade pieces
Made from a single piece of jade, a passing guide was able to shine his laser right on through
More fish encapsulating precious stones
Goodness gracious great balls of jade!
Diamond dragon fly
Many monks of gold
All that gold will certainly keep this hat on your head
Fancy English tile
So many stories to tell
A mythical kinnaree half human half bird
The green room leading to the embroidery
Lunch box envy
Take your pick. two, three or four levles
Colors are varied
SO many to choose from
And the Mac-Daddy tea pot and lunch box
More elaborate tiles
Ohhh so many shoes
Needle work of the highest quality
Chinese Cloud Collars
Worn by Peranakan brides
Also known as Phoenix collars
The work is exquisite
Brightly colored and very detailed
Buddhist themes and floral analogs
The collar had very long extensions
A great hat to match
The shoes changed with the changing times
We actually bought a set of coasters made of these tile designs
Still stylish
Two rough and tumbe dudes
A wedding crown with pearly baubles, gilded brass panels and kingfisher feathers
Lions
A fancy thunder mug
We had to remove our shoes to go upstairs
It was just as packed with things as downstairs
Need a sink in the corner? Make it fancy.
Old time luggage
A TV from 1959
This was the classic cologne from Cologne Germany
Lots of light can get into this room
3-D geckos on this vase
The wedding bed!
Fancy!
The whole family is embroidered on the bed
