Sometimes, fortune can appear when you least expect it. Such is the case for Ammar Syed Jamaludin, 18, who sold the Straits Chinese Peranakan station for SG$115,700 (RM374,174).
Ammar, the founder of The Gallerist Company, a Penang-based antiques business, initially planned to buy only the beautiful company that decorated the wedding hall of a Peranakan family.
But he found the sink in the old cabinet very nice. There are different colors on the rim and center of the bowl. It’s awesome, Ammar told FMT Lifestyle. The basin has 12 alternating sides of yellow and green around its edge, while the center has the image of a phoenix and a dragon chasing golden pearls.
Ammar ended up buying both the cabinet and the sink, and later discovered that a single sink, believed to be from the same material, is on display at the Peranakan Museum in Singapore. I would date the basin to the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century. It is believed to have been ordered from China by a Chinese Peranakan family from Melakan, he said.
It is likely, Ammar added, that a member of the Peranakan family is married to a member of the Syed Sheikh Al-Hadi family, a well-known writer and scholar, from whom he bought a company in the waterworks. After saying goodbye, Ammar put the sink up for sale in a market stall in Singapore. But before the online auction began, he received an offer from a buyer for S$20,000 (RM64,680). He turned the buyer down, a wise decision in hindsight.
Recalling the final day of the auction on 15 September, he said: “It was really hot, because the price went from SG$45,000 to SG$89,000 in the last 38 minutes!”
The auction closed and, after including a 30% buyer’s premium, the sale price was set at SG$115,700. This, he added, is a world record in the form of Peranakan porcelain from Straits China. The previous record was for a kamcheng, or covered pot, which sold for SG$74,000, including purchase price. It is rare to meet someone like Ammar: a young man who gives things from the past a place in the present. In our country now, the minimalist style is popular. The only way to understand the art of the past is to look at paintings, porcelain and furniture, said Ammar, who is from Jawi-Peranakan. Whenever I see Peranakan furniture, I am amazed to see how the artisans of that time create beautiful paintings.
So, what’s next for this young entrepreneur? Beat his record, perhaps? Well, that would be difficult, but one of these days… I hope!
Gallery Gallery
50A, Jalan Kedah,
10050 George Town, Penang
Working hours: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm (closed days)
