Guan Hoe Co. Ltd

Figure 1: Guan Hoe Co., Ltd facade

I discovered this old shop called Guan Hoe Co., Ltd in the older part of Ipoh. I suspect it is Art Deco-inspired because it was a design style popular in the 1920s-1930s in Europe and the United States. During that time, Malaya was still a British colony.

I did a quick research, the key characteristics of Art Deco are:¹Please read the references below for more information.

1. Streamlined appearance.
2. Bold Shapes.
3. Stylised Geometric Designs.
4. Bold Colours and decoration.
5. Luxury materials include ivory, silk, ebony, chrome, brass, and exotic woods.

Based on the image (Figure 1), I believe it is Art Deco-inspired because it has geometric shapes.

Figure 2: GH Monogram on the left area

The left portion of the building (Figure 2) is filled with blue-outlined rectangles, creating an optical illusion which focuses the viewer’s eyes on the middle. As the eyes are drawn to the middle, a gold monogram becomes the focus of the left area. The gold monogram is possibly the combination of the letters G and H, which are the initials of the business name, Guan Hoe.

Figure 3: Chevron element and gold monogram on the right area

The right area (Figure 3) is a combination of symmetrical blue chevrons and lines. There is a gold monogram of what appears to be an upside-down letter A with a vertical line in the middle.

Figure 4: The mousedeer divider

There is a narrow decorative area that divides the left area and the right area of the building (Figure 4). This decorative divider appears to imitate the lines of a skyscraper. The base of the divider is built with four squares. On top of the four squares, a rectangle filled with chevrons with a vertical line pointing upwards, leading the viewer’s eye to the top. These chevrons attempt to imitate a viewer’s experience of looking at a skyscraper from the bottom up. As the viewer looks upwards, the shape changes to a tapered cone with a rounded top, suggesting the pinnacle of a skyscraper. The narrow rectangles on the left and right frame further emphasise the height of the building. In the middle of the narrow divider, a gold animal appears to be a mousedeer surrounded by circles. The golden mousedeer surrounded by circles gives the impression of a bullseye target.

Based on the visual description, the shop fits into the description of the Art Deco. However, I am not sure about the materials used and it still looks outstanding despite the lack of maintenance to the building.

After describing the image, I have some questions.

1. The business name is Guan Hoe Co., Ltd. If a company is incorporated in Malaysia, it would have been translated as ‘Berhad’ for the word ‘Ltd’ (limited). The bottom signage (not pictured) was ‘Sharikat Guan Hoe Co. Ltd Berhad’. ‘Sharikat’ is an old Malay spelling for ‘Syarikat’, which means company in Malay.
2. What does the upside down A with the vertical line means (Figure 2)?
3. When was this architectural design brought into Malaya? While Art Deco was prominent in Europe in the 1920s, these design trends came slowly to Malaya, sometimes as long as 10 to 20 years. After all, there was no internet during the British colonial era.
4. What is the story of these elements? At this point, I inferred that the decorative divider (Figure 3) appears to imitate the lines of a skyscraper because some of these elements are similar to the Art Deco elements found on some of the Art Deco-inspired skyscrapers in the United States. In addition to that, there is a mousedeer. Is this mousedeer a decoration from a general Art Deco influence or created from Malaysian folktales and legends?

At this point, I am documenting my observations,  and I will update it with a new post if I ever have my answers to the questions.

References