Chinese Straits Altar Frontal, C. 19th C. Silk, glass beads, and wool. Size: 41'' x 21'' (104 x 53 cm). The red wool panel embroidered in a voided satin stitch technique, in which a gap (known as the "water channel") is left between blocks of solid satin stitches. Couched gold thread embroidery outlines the images of florals and butterflies. Straits Chinese (Peranakan) are the Chinese merchant class that left China, settled around the straits of Malacca and eventually married and blended into the local population. The straits were a vital trade route connecting Europe and India to China and Japan.The ethnic Chinese people brought their ancestral traditions with them but also incorporated local arts and crafts with British colonial sensibilities, all adapted to the sub-tropical climate of their new surroundings.Glass beads are generally not used in mainland China but along the trade routes they could be easily obtained and therefore found their way into Straits- Chinese culture, craft and textile.

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