Raffles, as interpreted by Aw Pottery
Originally uploaded by Katong.

This figurine was created by Aw Pottery on a commission from the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, in the very early 1970s, at a time when Singapore was searching restlessly for icons of itself. I picked one up on a recent trip to Malaysia - it is around seven inches high.



We managed to find Aw Pottery off the North-South Highway, south of Ayer Hitam. The restaurant is closed: I remember it well from the days before the Highway. The tilework bathrooms remain, unused and run down. The pottery works is still functioning, though the dragon kiln, I read, was closed around 1980. This is around the time the family emigrated to the US, settling around Berkeley, and later shifting the pottery works to Seattle.


Aw Pottery was once an important place for Singapore's sculpture and ceramic arts. Aw Eng Kwang showed in the first sculpture show of the Singapore Art Society, and his guardians still stand outside the Hilton Hotel, the most iconic figures on Orchard Rd.

I'm linking here to a picture dated 1960 of Aw Pottery US proprietor Albert Aw as a young boy, with a sculpture created by his father. It is posted on the Aw Pottery USA website.

Technorati Tags: Malaysia, public art, Raffles, sculpture, Singapore, tourism

Labels: Singapore

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