Details
CollectionStraits Chinese Collection
Object numberB2008-0001-002-0
TitleAncestor portrait of Wee Boon Teck
CreatorLim Kim Swee
Description"157 Neil Road was home to the Wees, and pictures of their family members fill the wall opposite the airwell. The two large portraits above the sideboard are painted works. Before the introduction of photography, it was common for a family of means to commission portraits of ancestors for use in ancestor worship rituals. Such images may be painted posthumously, and were hung at the ancestral altar or in close proximity. The man in the large portrait is Wee Boon Teck, the second generation heir to the family’s business. He passed away in 1888 but the markings on his portrait indicate that it was painted in either 1897 or 1899. The lady has been identified as Tan Keow, who was a wife of Wee Boon Teck’s father, Wee Bin. A photograph of the ancestral hall shows that there was originally a portrait of Wee Bin above the shrine." (NUS Baba House, Architecture and Artefacts of a Straits Chinese Home, Page 82-83).
“The ancestor portrait of Wee Boon Teck bears a date inscription. While the first two digits of the year ('1' and '8') are legible, the top halves of the third and fourth digits are obliterated by the degradation of the paper medium. Remaining traces show two vertical lines which could have been from the numbers '1', '4', '7' or '9', giving 16 possible permutations! Wee's portrait was painted by Lim Kim Swee who also made two other works in the collection dated 1896 [Portrait of Tan Beng Wan] and 1898 [Ancestor portrait of Tan Keow]. The two pieces indicate that the artist was active in the latter half of the 1890s and, until further evidence indicates otherwise, Wee's portrait is catalogued with the dates 1897 or 1899.” (Inherited & Salvaged, Family Portraits from the NUS Museum Straits Chinese Collection, Page 19).
“The three portraits [by Lim Kim Swee] in the NUS Collection [B2008-0001-001-0, B2008-0001-002-0, B2012-0003-011-0] were executed some years after the death of the subjects - the formal nature of the paintings, and their ornate carved frames clearly indicate their function in the context of ancestral halls and rituals. The subjects are given a pictorial treatment that recalls traditional Chinese portraiture, yet the influence of photography and Western drawing techniques are evident especially in the pictorial composition and in the rendering of the faces. The poses and court costumes of [Wee Boon Teck and Tan Beng Wan] are identical, with each holding a fan in one hand and clasping the beads of their court necklace with the other. Only the type of hat differs in each painting. Clearly a template was employed for the bodies, while the faces were most probably copied from photographs. …The signature of the artist in roman letters, “Drawn by Lim Kim Swee, Singapore” and the annotation of Gregorian calendar dates, as with the paintings by Ong Qwee Hong, subtly reveal the complex negotiations with modernity.” (Inherited & Salvaged, Family Portraits from the NUS Museum Straits Chinese Collection, Page 56).
“In response to the primary function of the ancestor portrait as a ritual object, artists making such images observed a pictorial schema that was generally regarded to be appropriate for the representation of deceased subjects. Several aspects of this schema appear in the ancestor portraits of Wee Boon Teck [B2008-0001-002-0] and Tan Keow [B2008-0001-001-0], the most distinct being the full-length seated, direct-facing pose. The frontal composition with a piercing gaze presents an authoritative and majestic air befitting someone whom descendants regard with reverence. It is a posture reminiscent of imperial portraits of the Ming era which were in turn influenced by earlier developments in images depicting deities.” (Inherited & Salvaged, Family Portraits from the NUS Museum Straits Chinese Collection, Page 21).
Production placeSingapore
Production period1897 or 1899
Object categoryPortrait
Dimensions
H: 114.5 cm
L: 83.5 cm
H: 114.5 cm
L: 83.5 cm
L: 83.5 cm
H: 114.5 cm
L: 83.5 cm
Credit lineGift of Wee Lin
