Large Straits Chinese Covered Vase (Chupu)

This cepu or chupu as such covered vases were known in Malacca, or kat mau (as they were known in Singapore), or himcheng (as they were called in Penang) is a particularly large example.

The body and cover are decorated with bright enamels. Pink-ground panels within mustard-yellow borders on each side are decorated with a phoenix in flight over pink peonies, all against a green ground embellished with more pink peonies. The top of the base and bottom of the cover have pink borders decorated with ribbons and Buddhistic/Taoist symbols. The base of the  chupu has a border of pink and green lappets separated by mustard-yellow ribs. The cover is topped with a pink handle or pull. The edges of this, the cover and the base are finished with gilt.

The base has a clear factory mark in brick red enamel for ‘Chenyitai zao’.

Chupu vases had no definitive use but usually were part of the large wedding sets that the Straits Chinese commissioned from China. Possibly, they were used to serve bird’s nest soup or glutinous rice balls in syrup – delicacies that could be expected to be served at a Straits wedding and which by tradition signified marital bliss and prosperity.

The Straits Chinese are the ethnic Chinese of the Straits Settlements and nearby areas who had been in Southeast Asia for enough generations that Southeast Asia was now their permanent home. They had also acculturated with local Malay communities to the extent that their Chinese traditions absorbed some Malay and related traditions, as well as some aspects of European culture. They were Daoist and Buddhist. Many spoke a local patois of the Chinese Hokkien dialect mixed with Malay. They regarded themselves as a distinct community quite apart from the Chinese who had emigrated from China more recently who retained their Chinese culture with little acculturation and who maintained their ties with China.

The chupu is in fine condition without cracks, chips or restoration.