The ceramic tiles originally decorated the grave of Mdm Ho Chit Neo who passed away on 24 April 1923. Mdm Ho's grave was one of over 3,700 graves that were exhumed between 2013 and 2014 for the construction of a new road through Bukit Brown Cemetery. Among the exhumed graves, this one was decorated with the largest variety of tiles with different patterns. The tiles include pieces decorated in the Art Nouveau style, monochromatic ones as well as transfer-printed designs in an assortment of colours. The tiles were likely sourced from multiple manufactories in Europe and Japan.Located in the central part of Singapore, Bukit Brown Cemetery was officially opened on 1 January 1922 by the British colonial government as a public cemetery for non-Christian Chinese. It came to house an estimated 100,000 graves before it was officially closed to burials in 1973.
