This is a beadwork sampler where the motifs are stitched onto the base fabric with needle and thread. The decorative motifs include a boy in a yellow and orange school uniform sitting on a grass patch. He is holding onto a light and dark pink kite with his left hand. Two tall stalks of flowers with red and purple blossoms flank the boy. This design suggests the colonial influence on the Peranakan community from the start of the 20th century. These motifs are created using colourful glass seed or Rocaille beads, also referred to by the Peranakans as “Manek Kacha”. Such beads could have been imported from Europe and were sold locally to households by the travelling haberdasher known to Nonyas as the “klengtong man”. Such samplers were often used by Nonyas as pictorial references and are generally believed to have been derived from European cross stitch books.
