Bussorah Street Hawker, 1980
Description
watercolour on paper
52 x 72 cm
A nostalgic figure stands in the foreground of this rendering of Bussorah Street– the pushcart hawker. This disappearing– or even “disappeared”– tradesman stands in a casually assured contrapposto pose while tending to his ingredients under the tarped shade of his cart, perhaps whipping up a dish for his lone customer perched on a stool in front of the hawker cart.
In the distance, the Sultan Mosque has been masterfully rendered to sparkle in the afternoon sun. A bright red car is parked along the street– a herald of modernity that would soon outpace the humble pushcart and render it a figment of the past.
Provenance: Gift from a corporate collection to Singapore Philatelic Museum
To be sold to support Children’s Museum Singapore*
*Singapore Philatelic Museum became a dedicated children’s museum in December 2022
Echoes of the Past / Lot #7
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