Description
Vibrant fully hand-painted Nyonya rice bowl accented with the Feng Shui symbols of Phoenix, Peonies and Eight Auspicious Objects.
Nyonya ware is the term given to a variety of colorful over-glazed enameled porcelains, made in Jingdezhen in the Kiangsi province of China to the taste and specific orders of the Straits Chinese (Peranakan) in Malaya and Singapore. Peranakan Chinese or Baba-Nyonya are the descendants of Chinese immigrants who came to the Malay archipelago and British Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore) between the 15th and 17th centuries. Baba is the term for the men and Nyonya for the women. Because these wares were inherited matrilineally by the females of the family, hence the term Nyonya ware. These wares were held pride of place during special functions and auspicious occasions.
Of the all symbols, the phoenix and peonies were the most distinctively pervasive in Nyonya wares. The phoenix is symbolic of the rebirth, fire, fertility and stability. The peonies represents feminine beauty, riches, love and affection, honor and happiness.
Nyonya ware in recent years has attained the status of collector’s items, although these porcelain were once only part and parcel of a Nyonya household.
* This is a replica and not an antique Nyonya Ware.
