Saturday, January 8, 2011

My Collections



Lets have some fun and make a detour from the garden today and join in Tete's 2nd Hand Collections! Those who join in have to post about their 2nd hand collections. These are my mom's collections over the years, most of them were from her own mom (my grandma), passed down to her and now to me.




a pair of brass candlesticks

now I use them to decorate wedding platform of my son's wedding or have candles ready on them in case of emergency when there's a blackout!




an old keris (a Malay dagger)


passed down from my grandfather to my father
- never in use anymore so the blade is rusty




a pair of brass labu sayong's holder



These labu sayong (labu is a container to keep water made of clay and the clay is obtained from a place called Sayong in Perak where they are made into labu). These labu are almost 50 years old, those days drinking water was kept in them and the water was found to be cold as if kept in a fridge


a brass tray, although there were four, I gave each one to my younger sisters
- the tray was used to put cups or plates and served during meals but nowadays trays or semperit are used in Malay weddings to bring decorated gifts (hantaran) to the bride and groom



an old kukur kelapa
a coconut grater, a tool used to scrape the coconut flesh from its shell
- got this from my grandma's house though not in used anymore, now you can buy ready scraped coconut or better still, fresh coconut milk from the supermarkets!





old but still looking good a tepak sireh
because it was wrapped in plastic though the plastic are torn in some places





tepak sireh is a metal container used to store betelnuts, gambier, lime and betel leaves for chewing but it was kept in a specially made velvet cover embossed with gold threads (tekad)
specially ordered from an expert in the art of tekad
from Taiping, Perak




a decorated tepak sireh



This is older than me because my mom ordered this to prepare for her 4 sons' weddings (only from the groom side) though at that time, we were still in schools! Here is shown where it was recently decorated as the head of hantaran (wedding gifts) for my nephew's soleminisation of marriage ceremony (majlis akad nikah). The tepak sireh is also used in meminang (a ceremony to formally ask the intended bride for her hand in marriage) and bertunang ceremony (engagement ceremony).




Did you all have fun today with my 2nd hand collections? So why not join in the fun at Tete's Beyond The Garden Gate and see more collections!

33 comments:

Tete said...

How exciting to have you join my blog party! You have wonderful old things and I love learning about treasures we do not have here.
Your gardens are beautiful with many colors and variety.
Thank you so much for sharing your collections.
Hugs- Tete

miruku said...

Wah... not only got the chance to see all the treasures in your home but like already attended a class to learn all the Malay's tradition. Interesting.
Q: Where did you get your purple candles? Never seen before!

p3chandan said...

Hi Tete, thank you very much, the Host herself dropping by to see my small collections! Im honoured and pleased to have joined your Collection Party.

p3chandan said...

Milka, thank you for introducing Tete's meme! Just to have some fun away from the garden for a while..:) Those are old items handed down to me, I think in any Malay home a few of those items are still kept as heirlooms passed down from generations to generations like your Aunt Shirley's antiques. The purple candles I got from Ikea, soooo many choices!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What a wonderful collection passed down in your family. Thank you for the history, and meanings.

FlowerLady

Lrong Lim said...

Intersting treasures... thanks for sharing them...

Lady of Leisure said...

my mom ada jugak collection tembaga ni.. n paling i suka dia punya bekal letak celak, antik betul hehe

Rebecca said...

This is so interesting-I've never seen or heard about this wonderful treasures-thanks for sharing!

Stephanie said...

You have a nice collection. Oh that coconut grater... I tried grating coconut with this gadget before... it's so difficult to do so!

Anonymous said...

You have some beautiful handmade objects. They really appeal to me because of a few reasons. The time, effort and care to make them, their history and everyday use in making memories, the unique and cultural beauty, and the idea they can be used and displayed with love.

I really think the keris is a piece of art. I am amazed it was used, and the forged shape is so different than others I have seen even in museum collections.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Wow so many traditional treasure you have there. I wish I have labu sayong here to keep cool water for our very hot summer here.

rainfield61 said...

My family had a kukur kelapa once upon a time.

We had also an iron which used charcoal instead of electricity.

It was so long ago.

miruku said...

You are the lucky choosen one to get all these treasures and i'm sure your parents know you can take very good care of them and pass them to your children in future and from one generation to another :) Ah, my place here Ipoh ulu a bit, we don't have Ikea and we don't have purple candles. So shame to have asked you, LOL.

p3chandan said...

Flower Lady thank you for dropping by to see my antique collections. Those items have special meanings, their history and sweet memories passed down from 3 generations.

Lady, selalu nya keluarga orang Melayu mesti ada barang tembaga dulu2, bekas celak tu memang ada but I forgot where I put it..:)

Rebecca, thanks for dropping by to have a peek at my collections. Those items are part of our age old tradition and culture.

p3chandan said...

Thanks Steph..If you want to use the old coconut grater, you have to sit astride like you are riding a horse, dont let it move, or else it will be difficult to grate.I used to get that job when my mom was cooking, that was in the 60's! haha...

p3chandan said...

Donna, thank you.Yes you are right in all acounts. In those days, the Keris was custom made by special order and it was a symbol of 'manhood' that embalmed spiritual and cultural meanings and also a weapon for self-defence.

Diana, those labu sayong were of traditional and old design. Nowadays, they have new and modern design but not sure of their ability to keep water cold like those days.

p3chandan said...

Rainfield, what happen to them, dont you keep them as souvenirs of pre-electricity era? When balik kampung during school holidays, I used to iron clothes using the old iron..they weighed a ton and so hot!

Milka, Im the eldest in the family, so I was given the duty to take care of them though a few were given to my sisters for their safe-keeping too. You know, looking at your modern and chic garden, it doesnt look a bit ulu..I tend to forget that you live in Ipoh and not in some elite area in KL! hehe...

Pam's English Garden said...

Dear p3chandan, How wonderful that you can keep the memories and traditions of your family through these lovely objects. You must treasure them! P x

Makarimi Abdullah said...

Wow...big collections! I really like the keris. So beautiful and antique! Q: Why the keris broken?

p3chandan said...

Dear Pam, thank you I will treasure them for my sweet memories of my mom and dad also as part of my cultural heritage.

Thank you Makarimi, the keris is very very old and the blade very rusty and crumbles slowly..

James David said...

I used to grate coconut when I was child for my mother. Often its a challenging and fun thing to do during my childhood days.
And often curse it when I accidentally scrape my foot when running around. (You know - kids that time)
Now, its more of a memory..

Malar said...

My mother still have the coconut grater too! Now it's resting in the store room! I remember how she sit and grate the coconut those days!
You really have some really old collectioN! WOW!

p3chandan said...

James, same here..it was my job to grate the coconut! Yeah those were the days, when life was much simpler even without modern conveniences.I missed them!

Malar, dont throw it away, well at least can show it to our children and grandchildren. The same with 'batu giling', Im sure your mom still have that too!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

tQ for dropping by. So nice to keep those 'antique' items. Wow love the old kukur kelapa, 'played' that during childhood.

p3chandan said...

Hehehe..you too 'rode' it like me..:)

Ali said...

Wow, I love the sword and the coconut scraper, what fabulous memories you have. Wonderful!

p3chandan said...

Thank you Ali, they are old old memories of my mom and dad, and part of our Malay heritage.

Autumn Belle said...

You have so many collectibles here, now they have become precious antiques. So interesting to know about the adat resam.

p3chandan said...

Thank you Autumn Belle, they are precious since they are part of the adat resam especially the tepak sireh which is still in use even in modern times.

fer said...

Very nice collection! and so cool they even have a good history with you, like the dagger.

p3chandan said...

Thank you Fer, every old items has their own history and memories!

Stephanie said...

I think after grating, my arms will ache he he... thanks for that tip :-D

Wally said...

So interesting. I especially like the labu sayong, not sure why, just an intriguing idea.