royal selangor: 'money tree'

founded in 1885, malaysian company royal selangor has a workforce of more than 600 skilled craftsmen. during the 18th century the company produced mainly incenseburners and candle holders for the oriental market. with the british colonials, they expanded to tankards, ashtrays and even tea services. the brand then became known as selangor pewter.

royal selangor’s school of hard knocks image © designboom

royal selangor’s school of hard knocks is a pewtersmithing workshop that offers a hands-on experience for visitors interested in trying their hand at pewtersmithing. the school is located within the company’s flagship store at clarke quay, singapore.

designboom visited the royal selangor pewter center and the school of hard knocks in march, 09.

image © designboom

image © designboom

certificate are awarded for the pewtersmithing course image © designboom

in royal salangor pewter center, we could find interesting pewter product called ‘money tree’.

‘money tree’ image © designboom

early malay coinage usually took the form of conventional discs with a central hole, these were produced following the chinese custom of molding coin-trees known locally as pohon pitis. the coins would be broken off from their branches and used as currency. they carried arabic inscriptions and were cast in tin.

arabic inscriptions carved in the coinsimage © designboom

discarded pewter from the finishing process image © designboom

image © designboompewter is composed of tin, with a small proportion of copper and antimony added to strengthen it. unlike pewter in the olden days, pewter produced by royal selangor does not contain lead, and adheres to international standards.

various pewter products by loyar selangor image © designboom

the making of money tree.

cleaning the money tree mold image © designboom

money tree mold image © designboom

liquid pewter image © designboom

pouring liquid pewter into the mold image © designboom

as pewter has a low melting point and relative softness, it is an ideal material for craftsmen and designers to work with.

equipment for making the pewter products image © designboom

pewter craftperson holding mold firmly image © designboomimage © designboom

unfinished money tree next to completed oneimage © designboom

elaborating process image © designboom

image © designboom

the material also lends itself to different manufacturing techniques, some of which have been handed down through many generations.

machine used for elaborating the pewterimage © designboom

completed money tree image © designboom

wall made of pewter tiles image © designboom

detail image © designboom

the royal selangor story image © designboom