Katong (1 results)

A pair of Singapore images - a photograph and a watercolour from the photograph. Undated gelatin silver photograph by G.R. Lambert & Co laid down onto card. Title directly beneath the photograph. Photograph measures 19.3 x 26cm, card 24 x 30cm. Watercolour on thick paper, signed "Arnold 1945" near the lower left corner, "Under the Equator near Malacca Straits" pencilled along lower edge. Some minor damage with loss to the paper two corners not affecting the image, a little occasional spotting, sections of mounting tape on reverse, but overall very good. 38 x 46cm. A scarce pair: a gelatin silver photograph of Katong from the studio of G.R. Lambert and an original watercolour painted from the photograph. The image depicts a typical Malay house beside a river situated in what is today Katong an area in central Singapore spanning Upper East Coast Road and Tanjong Rhu. Scenes such as this would have been common in Singapore showing a traditional house built from local materials, nipah palm for the walls with an attap roof, would have been common in the days prior to removal of the kampungs. These old houses were typically built on stilts - this not only protected the building from flooding and animals, and provided storage space but also, along with the design of the roof and the full-length openable window spaces - increased the overall ventilation and kept the interior cool. Shade from nearby palms and other trees was also important in reducing the build-up of heat in the kampung. In this image a family is shown squatting near a flat-bottomed boat on the edge of the river near a boat, indicating that their likely main source of income was from fishing.