4th May 2024

‘Malay Silver and Gold’ Launched at London’s Leighton House

We had a full capacity audience for the launch of Malay Silver and Gold: Courtly Splendour from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, Michael Backman’s new book, published by River Books, last Thursday evening, May 2. Michael was introduced by Seif El Rashidi, director of the Barakat Trust, in front of an audience of almost 100 people, including Narisa Chakrabongse, founder and owner of River Books; Annabel Gallop, head of the Southeast Asian Department of the British Library; and John McCarthy, former Australian Ambassador to Indonesia.

The event was held at the splendid Leighton House, the former home of Victorian-era painter and collector Lord Frederic Leighton, with its stunning Moorish interiors, now is preserved as a museum.

Malay Silver and Gold is the largest compendium of Malay silver and gold articles ever published, with almost 500 photographs of objects, most of which have never before been published. It tells the story of the Malay peoples who are spread across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, through their silver and gold, as well as identifying new areas of the genre, and revealing types of silverwork previously thought to be Malay but which are not. It is the first book on Malays silver and gold to have been published in more than a hundred years.