Wedding chamber ornament

This ornament would have been hung on a Peranakan wedding bed. It is decorated with a pair of peacocks, symbols of beauty and dignity. Wedding chamber ornaments usually depict fertility symbols such as butterflies, goldfish and rodents, reflecting the wish to have many heirs to the family name. Wedding chamber ornaments were usually commissioned in pairs, as the Peranakans consider the number ‘two’ as auspicious.