Malaysian Intercultural Pattern Structure on Ceramic Tea Caddy Design Framework

Abstract

This paper discusses about the influenced pattern on ceramic tea caddy through three main indigenous ethnics which are Malay, Chinese, and Indian in Malaysian culture. Derived from China, Malaysia also used tea caddy as storage for tea. As China has become the earliest creator of tea caddy, most of the popular tea caddy was made by ceramics. Nowadays, the concept has been enhanced to become an artware for exclusive corporate giveaways and souvenirs. We proposed tea caddy as a platform to combine Malaysian culture because of the acceptance designs as universal product with no predisposition to any races. The objective of this study is to identify the origin of the Malaysian pattern based on three main races to be used as ceramic tea caddy surface pattern design. The methodology started by analyzing the three main core races in Malaysia. The analysis of the pattern used on famous craftwork and textile will be compared in order to understand the pattern structure. The comparison study shows significant data where these three races applied the same pattern design. However, it clearly shows contradiction of the color management, subject matter chosen for the flora or fauna, as well as pattern composition. As a result, the combination of elements includes the relation between the pattern design and color composition of three cultures constructed as a surface pattern design framework. It is proposed that it should be affixed on ceramic tea caddy series to highlight and promote the uniqueness of Malaysian culture as well as to promote the “taste of Malaysia.”