This beaded wedding coin purse shows the Peranakan love for ornamentation. The beads used were mostly very tiny pieces, some as small as 0.05mm in diameter. The purse itself was also very small and usually less than 15cm in length. It was also very flat. The light blue or yellow ground on this purse is typical examples from Penang. It contains motifs of deer, birds and a border design of marine life such as the crab. The deer symbolises wealth while the paired motif of two birds symbolises double blessing. The marine life symbolise abundance.The auspicious symbols on this piece highlight its ceremonial use during the traditional Peranakan wedding. A purse like this would have been part of the wedding trousseau or dowry and was usually made in advance by the bride herself. Due to its small size, the purse served little other function. However, an empty coin pouch was considered a bad omen. As such, token sums of money, usually in pairs of coins would be placed inside to prevent any misfortune from happening.
