We know Chinese ceramics are not everyone’s cup of tea (it’s not ours either) but a visit to the Straits & Oriental Museum in Penang was still a pleasant way to pass an hour.
If you want to know what you can see here, keep on reading!
Entrance Fees And Shop
It cost us RM20 each to enter this museum. The tickets include a drink per person from the on-site café. And a guided tour as well (they don’t have any slots between 1pm to 3pm).
We recommend giving them a call to see if there’s an available slot before you visit.
The counter is at the front of the museum among some long display cases that had many ceramic pieces for sale. A closer look at some of the price tags attached to these pieces will shock the casual visitor.
Museum
The main gallery is all on the ground floor. It might not look like much, but you can spend quite a lot of time here if you read all the information they provide.
There are tours but we missed the earliest afternoon slot and didn’t want to have to wait 2 hours for the next one.
Our self-guided tour was based on the written descriptions (and there are a lot of them) beside each display case. There is the option to scan a QR code and get their audio guide if you prefer that.
We started on the left side of the museum which begins with different Chinese dynasties and how the ceramic industry evolved with them.
The subjects in the display cases perfectly illustrate the differences between the ceramic techniques that each dynasty preferred and explored. Visually, it’s usually something to do with the color or amount of detail on the final piece.
We learnt that the Song dynasty were the minimalists of the Chinese dynasties!
There are also some interesting facts on the burial practices of older dynasties and how ceramics played a part.
As we moved on to the back and to the right side of the museum, the pieces became more intricate. Many were meant for exports to Europe.
Descriptions share how many people it takes to produce such exquisite pieces. Including the hard labor involved to transport the ceramic wares over to their overseas destinations.
Another section talked about how the ceramic technology reached other countries eventually despite the Chinese wanting to keep their secrets. There are some quintessentially colorful baba nyonya pieces on display too.
The final section we saw was about how museums acquire old ceramic works from old shipwrecks. You can see a map of all the shipwreck sites in Malaysia too!
Fine Art Gallery
Upstairs is left for displaying artwork. During our visit, the exhibition featured large abstract works by a single artist.
We don’t have much to say about them since we’re not fine art connoisseurs. But it feels very calm up in this gallery.
The gallery also has lovely staghorn ferns and a beautiful airwall that looks down to the museum.
You can access the fine art gallery from a flight of steep stairs just beside the counter for the on-site café.
Café
At the back of the building (behind the museum) is a cozy space where customers can claim their free drink, enjoy air-conditioning, free Wi-Fi and maybe relieve themselves (there is a toilet).
It’s a nice spot to wait for the next tour slot.
We chose to get an iced americano and iced cinnamon rose tea for our free drinks. There are other beverages you can get instead if you pay.
Conclusion
Even if you’re not a ceramic or Chinese history enthusiast, we’d still recommend a visit to the Straits & Oriental Museum. The museum is well-managed, and we like that it has an art gallery upstairs and on-site café too.
You don’t necessarily need to go for the tours – we didn’t, and we still left with a lot of newfound knowledge and appreciation for Chinese ceramics.
Other Museums In Penang
We’ve been to quite a few different museums in Penang besides the Straits & Oriental Museum. We highly recommend a visit to the Pinang Peranakan Museum if you want to see and learn more about the baba nyonya specifically.
Cafes in Penang
There are cafes close to the Straits & Oriental Museum if you would prefer them to the on-site café at this museum. One of the closest cafes to this museum is The Alley, 5 Stewart Lane.
