Legacies of Encounters Boats & Ceramics

Login
myLINC Canvas
Ask us
Background

Monochrome

Dark
I would like to search:

NUS Libraries website

All NUS Websites

Legacies of Encounters through Crafts and Material Culture (Part 2)

☉ Level 5, Quiet reading area

Legacies of Encounters unfolds in this section through the rich stories behind our collections of Nusantara boats and Southeast Asian ceramics, among others. These artefacts serve as testaments to the region’s vibrant history of cultural exchange, from the maritime routes that connected communities to the craftsmanship of ceramics that reflect both local traditions and broader regional influences. Together, they offer a deeper understanding of the interconnected legacies that have shaped Southeast Asia’s material and cultural landscape.

Of Maritime Heritage and Vanishing Landscapes

Be awed by boat models, commissioned by Eric Alfred in the 1970s and 80s, which reflect the actual vessels used by maritime communities across Southeast Asia. Crafted by boat makers from Singapore’s Southern Islands, these replicas offer a valuable record of the diverse boat typologies developed by archipelagic cultures. The models are thought to be based on photographs by Gibson-Hill and were commissioned by the former Singapore Maritime Museum and Baharuddin Vocational Institute.

Adding depth to the theme of maritime connections is a 19^th century Bugis-Makassar manuscript from the NUS Libraries’ Special Collections. This historical text highlights the trade relationships between Bugis-Makassar and Singapore, alongside other maritime Southeast Asian resources, including Gene Ammarell’s ethnographic study Bugis Navigation.

Complementing the maritime narrative are Lim Mu Hue’s woodblock prints, which offer a vivid glimpse into vanishing landscapes. His depictions of Bukit Timah Mining Field and the Botanic Gardens serve as visual archives, contrasting Singapore’s past with its present. The prints capture the region’s changing identity, from the mining-driven terrain of Bukit Timah to the evolving face of the Botanic Gardens.

Displayed Artefacts

Kolek
c. 1970 – 80s
Donated by Malay Heritage Centre

Golekkan
c. 1970 – 80s
Donated by Malay Heritage Centre

Singapore from Sandy Point
Charles Dyce, 1842-47
Watercolour Painting (Reproduction)

Botanical Garden, Singapore
Lim Mu Hue, 1968
Plywood

Bukit Timah Mining Field 武吉知马矿场
Lim Mu Hue, 1966
Plywood

Bukit Timah Mining Field 武吉知马矿场 (Edition 7 of 15)
Lim Mu Hue, 2003
Woodblock Print (Reproduction)

Displayed Books

Daeng Paduppa.
Bugis-Makassar Manuscript,
circa 1800s.
From NUS Libraries Special Collections: Digital Gems

Ammarell, Eugene Emil. (1994)
Bugis Navigation.
[Doctoral dissertation, Yale University]
Gifted by Professor Anthony Reid

Ammarell, E. E. (1994).
Bugis Navigation (Order No. 9522708).
[Doctoral dissertation, Yale University].
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304116080).

Ammarell, Gene.
Bugis Navigation
New Haven: Yale University, Southeast Asia Studies, Monograph 48, 1999.

Pelras, Christian.
The Bugis.
Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.

Andi Ima Kesuma.
Migrasi dan Orang Bugis: Penelusuran Kehadiran Opu Daeng Rilakka pada abad XVIII di Johor
Yogyakarta: Ombak, 2004.

Macknight, Campbell, Mukhlis Paeni and Muhlis Hadrawi, eds.
The Bugis Chronicle of Bone
Acton: ANU Press, The Australian National University, 2020.

Gaynor, Jennifer L.
Intertidal History in Island Southeast Asia: Submerged Genealogy and the Legacy of Coastal Capture.
Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program Publications, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2016.

Chou, Cynthia.
The Orang Suku Laut of Riau, Indonesia: The Inalienable Gift of Territory
London; New York: Routledge, 2010.

Spyer, Patricia.
The Memory of Trade.
Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000.

Stacey, Natasha.
Boats to Burn: Bajo Fishing Activity in the Australian Fishing Zone.
Canberra: ANU E Press, 2007.

Tagliacozzo, Eric.
Secret Trades, Porous Borders: Smuggling and States Along a Southeast Asian Frontier, 1865-1915.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.

Adrian B. Lapian.
Orang Laut, Bajak Laut, Raja Laut: Sejarah Kawasan Laut Sulawesi Abad XIX.
Depok : Komunitas Bambu, [2011]

Reid, Anthony.
Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia.
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2000.

Reid, Anthony.
Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680 - v. 1. The Lands Below the Winds.;
Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680 - v. 2. Expansion and Crisis.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993.

Southon, Michael.
The Navel of the Perahu: Meaning and Values in the Maritime Trading Economy of a Butonese Village.
Canberra: Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 1995.

Horridge, Adrian.
The Prahu: Traditional Sailing Boat of Indonesia.
Kuala Lumpur; New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.

Recommended Additional Reads

Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale.
The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship "Bacchante", 1879-1882: Compiled from the Private Journals, Letters, and Notebooks of Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales.
London: Macmillan,1886.

Alfred, E. R. "Boats of Singapore."
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 60, no. 2 (253) (1987): 99–114.

Gibson-Hill, C. A. “The Indonesian Trading Boats Reaching Singapore.”
Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 23, no. 1 (151) (February 1950): 108–138.

Gibson-Hill, C. A. “Cargo Boats of the East Coast of Malaya.”
Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 22, no. 3 (149) (June 1949): 106–125.

Gibson-Hill, C. A. “The Fishing Boats operated from Singapore Island.”
Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 23, No. 3 (153) (August 1950): 148-170.

Scott, James C.
The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Print

E-Book

Tagliacozzo, Eric.
In Asian Waters: Oceanic Worlds from Yemen to Yokohama.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022

Tagliacozzo, E. “A Necklace of Fins: Marine Goods Trading in Maritime Southeast Asia, 1780–1860.”
International Journal of Asian Studies 1, no. 1 (2004): 23–48.

Tagliacozzo, E. “Navigating Communities: Race, Place, and Travel in the History of Maritime Southeast Asia.”
Asian Ethnicity 10, no. 2 (2009): 97–120.

Phipps, John.
A practical treatise on the China and eastern trade: comprising the commerce of Great Britain and India, particularly Bengal and Singapore, with China and the eastern islands ... with directions, and numerous statements and tables, adapted to the use of merchants, commanders, pursers, and others connected with the trade of China and India.
Calcutta : Baptist Mission Press, 1835

Of Southeast Asian Ceramic Traditions & Global Exchange

View a curated selection from the NUS Museum’s Malcolm MacDonald Collection highlights the theme of cultural exchange through Southeast Asian ceramics. Unlike the more commonly recognized ceramics from China and East Asia, these pieces showcase the distinct ceramic traditions of Southeast Asia, reflecting both functional craftsmanship and aesthetic exchanges that shaped the region’s artistic identity. Accompanying the display are books and catalogues on the history of Southeast Asian ceramics and the communities involved in their creation and trade, including the notable text Southeast Asian Ceramics: New Light on Old Pottery.

Malcolm John MacDonald, former Governor General of British territories in Southeast Asia (1946–1948), significantly contributed to this collection. After serving as Chancellor of the University of Malaya, MacDonald donated part of his private collection to its Art Museum in 1961. Upon Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, the collection was divided between UM and NUS, with the remaining pieces forming the Malcolm MacDonald Collection at NUS Museum. Beyond ceramics, the collection also includes Chinese ink paintings, Indian sculptures, and contemporary Malayan art.

In contrast, the coral red 'in-and-out' kamcheng featured here is part of the Alice & Peter Tan Collection, which includes 435 Straits Chinese ceramics. These pieces were commissioned by the Straits Chinese in the late 19^th to early 20^th century and produced in Jingdezhen, China, reflecting the distinct cultural identity of the Straits Settlements.