Pair of Javanese Wooden Polychrome & Gilt Serpent Curtain Hooks (Klambu)

This pair of carved wooden hooks is for use to hold back a mosquito net or other curtains on a colonial-style four-poster bed in Java, Indonesia.

Each is carved as a crowned serpent or naga, with the tapering, curved body of the serpent making up the larger part of each hook.

Each is painted in gold, red and black – colours associated with the domestic furniture of the peranakan (localised, Dutch-influenced Chinese) of the early 19th century.

The pair is unusually three-dimensional – usually most pairs of wood curtain hooks are flatter and more naively rendered.

Each hook is mounted on a custom-made metal display stand.