This pair of colourful beaded curtain tie-backs would have been handmade by a Nonya (Peranakan woman). ‘Manek kacha’, refers to the miniscule and brilliantly coloured glass beads used in this type of curtain tie-backs that were likely to have been imported from Europe. This pair was made using the two techniques of stringing and threading. In stringing, a length of thread is passed through a succession of beads. In threading, multiple strands of thread are passed through the beads, resulting in a tightly-worked netting with diamond-shaped gaps. As beadwork was not part of traditional Chinese textile arts, Peranakan beadwork most likely stemmed from the community’s interactions with indigenous groups in Southeast Asia such as the Minangkabau people and also possibly introduced by the popularity of beadwork in Europe in the early 20th century.
