The Straits Baba were a conservative people: for their weddings, they commissioned a whole range of furniture in auspicious red-and-gold namwood, while for day-to-day activities they favoured items in carved blackwood with mother-of-pearl or marble inlays. But they were also impressed by the tables, cupboards and writing desks brought to the Straits Settlements by the British colonizers and immediately set about commissioning similar furniture in teakwood from the highly-accomplished local cabinet-makers. Straits Chinese furniture, then, is a fusion of Chinese Qing-dynasty ornateness and early 19th-century English dignity and decorum. Isolated from Chinese trends as well as European fashions, it developed its own style and uses in the Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang. Unlike other artifacts, Straits Chinese furniture is still meant to be used today. Carefully restored by master craftsmen and lovingly maintained by their owners. Straits Chinese tables, cabinets and chairs take pride of place in many modern homes. Dr Ho Wing Meng traces the origins and characteristics of Straits Chinese furniture and gives us pointers on how to date old furniture from their ornamentation and patina. In 100 stunning photographs, "Straits Chinese Furniture" presents the former Baba couches, tables, chairs, cupboards, writing desks and beds as they are used today by their present owners.