Seven Peranakan or Straits Chinese Famille Rose Porcelain Spoons

These seven spoons were commissioned from potteries in southern China by Straits Chinese or Peranakan clients in either of the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca or Singapore. Each spoon is decorated in famille rose with a flying phoenix and a peony blossom – auspicious motifs that the Straits Chinese used for their elaborate weddings – against a white background.

The edge rim of each has remnants of gold.

The reverse of each spoon is marked with a factory mark for ‘Xushunchang zao’, though with varying degrees of legibility.

Large sets of such porcelain known as nonyaware (Straits Chinese womenfolk were referred to as nonyas and the men were babas) were commissioned from China and decorated specifically to Straits Chinese tastes – typically they sets were colourful and featured peony and phoenix motifs but rarely dragons.

The Straits Chinese used spoons like these for transferring gravy-rich, savory dishes to their plates and also for desserts which often encompassed preserved fruits in a sweet syrup. Many Straits Chinese families did not use chopsticks.

The spoons were also placed on household altars with food offerings for the family’s ancestors.

The seven spoons here are all in fine condition.