Silver Straits Chinese Belt Buckle

Silver Straits Chinese-Style Buckle & Matching Belt

Certain items of jewellery produced in Singapore and Malaysia for the local Straits Chinese or peranakan market also became favoured by some tribal groups on Borneo, most particularly the Iban, and so local Chinese silversmiths produced essentially peranakan items for this market too. And so it most probably was with this buckle and matching belt. The item would have been worn by an Iban woman as part of her dress for festivals.

The buckle is of domed, ovoid form and is decorated with a central

qilin surrounded by a wide border of peonies and other flowers and including a bat.

The belt is over woven strands of sheet silver with a fine border of plaited silver wire. Small silver plum blossoms are applied in geometric diamond patterns along the belt. Both ends of the belt are covered in silver sheet that has been decorated with panels showing a phoenix in flight amid peony rose flowers and foliage.

The buckle and belt are strongly made but are lightweight for ease of wearing. There are no maker’s marks, and no losses or repairs.

Ho, W.M., S

traits Chinese Silver: A Collector’s Guide, Times International, 1984.

Invernizzi Tettoni, L. & E. Ong,

Living in Sarawak, Thames & Hudson, 1996.

UK private collection