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The Gilded Lion Antiques & Art Gallery, Bangsar Village 2, UG Floor, Georgetown (2026)

01/02/2022

Gilded Lion at Bangsar Village 2 will be closed for 2 days and will resume business on Thursday. Happy Chinese New Year to all and enjoy your festivities.

31/01/2022

I completely forgot to post on Facebook that Gilded Lion is now at Bangsar Village 2 (UG Floor Opposite Zara). Yesterday i just extended for another month. So its on a month to month basis which is good. In any case we open every single day from 10am - 10pm. Do pop over.

14/02/2021

Happy Valentines Day. Ugh. Anyway, wanted to share one of my favourite images of a couple in love. This was a Press Photograph i had for sale. From the early 1930s. The guy was leaving to join the Army and his girlfriend was there to say goodbye. See, there is so much love and infatuation here, i think that rather than be sad about the situation, they decided that they wanted that memory instead, that memory....to feel every second that they are madly infatuated with each other. Both are smiling while kissing, its a deep interlocking lip to lip kiss....although his body seems so relaxed and loose, and her body looks a little strained to reach him, but the lip to lip interlock, and their smile, to remember not a lost love or what could have been, but to remember instead the luck and joy that for a small period in your life, you were so madly in love....if only we can all look at such a complicated thing like love that way.... he is holding that cigarette, its all about the kiss... No happy ending though with this picture. No he did not die....the picture did! It was on display on the wall in China House as soon as you enter the cafe, for couple of months and then one day i went in, and water from the walls (its an old building) had seeped through the back of the frame bit by bit and in the end, there was no image left....one of the loss of possession i feel sad about when i think about it, still sad 3 years on. But thankful that i took a proper photograph of it. So every so often....aah the joy of love. Happy Valentines Day for those that are truly, truly in love. For those that are married for money or visa, watch for our next post, i have an iconic p***o magazine for sale. ..i also love how relaxed he is holding that cigarette, it is just about the kiss... No happy ending though with this picture. No he did not die....the picture did! It was on display on the wall in China House as soon as you enter the cafe, for couple of months and then one day i went in, and water from the walls (its an old building) had seeped through the back of the frame bit by bit and in the end, there was no image left....one of the loss of possession i feel sad about when i think about it, still sad 3 years on. But thankful that i took a proper photograph of it. So every so often..aah to be reminded on the joy of love. Happy Valentines Day for those that are truly, truly in love. For those that are married for money or visa, watch for our next post, i have an iconic p***o magazine for sale.

11/02/2021

Dear Clients and Friends who dont owe us money, just a quick post to announce with great sadness that Gilded Lion has decided to cancel our annual Chinese New Year Revenge Shopping campaign, due to the pandemic. If you remember, Revenge Shopping is a campaign where we encourage everyone to buy the most beautiful chinese things only from non chinese dealers as revenge for all our money depleting from paying chinese people for chinese new year. So this is now postponed to next year as a show of solidarity. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR. May your festivities be filled with joy and laughter. No joy for me when i realized that i have sold all my Ox antiques over the last months and years, if i knew it was year of the Ox this year i would have kept them all, at least Kerchiiiingggggg now....

07/02/2021

Continuation as per the previous posting.........
Somerset Maugham Suite. Sorry i only have the bar area and bed photographs, it was nearing MCO. Thank You.

07/02/2021

Evening All, just sharing about a job we had just completed prior to the Lockdown a fortnight ago.

Ok, some background.
In the colonial era, early 1900s, travelling to the East (our part of the world) was a life changing, exciting adventure for most westerners. With British and Dutch settlements in South East Asia and around, the who’s who of the entertainment and literary world would spend the weeks in big ships to satisfy their curiosity, to see what all the fuss is about the other side of the world, and to perve on our gorgeous little bodies. At that time Movie Stars were the royalties. And so too were Writers. Those whose books would change lives, whose books had characters and adventures that all of Hollywood would clamour to get rights to turn into a big Hollywood picture, writers whose books would bring to life unimaginable stories of the inhabitants of Malaya, or Peru or Madagascar....and more often that not, those writers would also get on those big ships time and time again and travel around the east, from Malaya to Burma to Siam to Hong Kong, via sampans, and sleepy trains or our version of the Orient Express. And all these people, with their white hats and white clothes and white skin would stay in the Grand Hotels in every country.

These Grand Hotels would then be so excited to hop on that marketing jewel of a bandwagon and name precious suites after these famous authors. Their most expensive suites. That tradition has carried on for over 100 years until today all over the world. Literary Suites for example are having a revival, just like in the heyday. With the world moving at such a fast pace, people are looking for breaks and holidays in places that are exciting because of the stories it tells. The most famous hotel in the world, The Ritz in Paris a couple of years back changed the name of their famous Hotel Bar into The Hemingway Bar. On their website it says this:

THE RITZ IN PARIS
Ernest Hemingway, who was such a regular that he inspired the name for the most beloved and respected bar in the world today, did not just drink 51 Dry Martinis in a row upon Liberation of Paris, he stored - and forgot for years - treasures in the basement of the Ritz Paris. Among these were writings from his early years in the French capital, which he rediscovered in old trunks. And which became the posthumously-published memoir, A Moveable Feast.

The newly named bar opened up their doors to an even wider generation of drinkers and visitors, so popular that last year, the Hotel introduced the Hemingway Suite.

Another famous Grand Hotel, The Plaza Hotel in New York, turned one of their very special 700sq ft Suite into the F.Scott Fitzgerald Suite, the celebrated author of Great Gatsby and many other books, who used to stay at the Hotel. They even got the costume designer who worked on the Hollywood remake of The Great Gatsby with Leonardo Di Caprio a few years back, to decorate the Suite.

There is also another big hotel in Edinburgh with the J.K Rowling Suite with homage to Harry Potter littered throughout the Suite that only real fans would recognize. The Suite is a bestseller.

And the list goes on and on. In Asia, the famous writers that went around here and stayed at various Grand Hotels were Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Hermann Hesse, the playwright and comedian Noel Coward, of course Anthony Burgess, Graham Greene and so on. Somerset Maugham has a Suite named after him until today, at the Raffles in Singapore (they also have a Writers Bar), the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok (today the Mandarin Oriental, where he took refuge while recovering for malaria, during which he overheard the exasperated hotel manager telling the doctor ‘i cant have him die here’.....there is also one in Hanoi at The Metropole and of course, The Somerset Maugham suite at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang.

Somerset Maugham had such a long career, he died at 90, and was so famous, that at one point in the 20s, 30s, and 40s he had multiple plays running concurrently on Broadway and in London’s West End, at the same time Hollywood adapted many of his books to the screen. Back then, Maugham was the highest paid writer in the world. It was during this time that he travelled to Asia. He wrote about his time here in a collection of short stories, Far Eastern Tales which was released many times, each time with additional stories. And in the 1960s, a single compilation edition was published named The Malaysian Stories. The book has a introduction by his pal, the writer Anthony Burgess (during research, i also found out that Anthony Burgess, 10 years before he published his iconic A Clockwork Orange, was a headmaster for a small school in Kuala Kangsar! Which he wrote about in The Malayan Trilogy, books set amidst the decolonization of Malaya.

- [ ] The E&O Hotel, for the first time in a long time, decided to revamp all of their Writers Suite, but this time for the Suites to capture the essence of the writers, through the library, the interiors, the pictures on the walls and so on. For example, Noel Coward Suite, second half of his life he lived and worked in Jamaica, so touches of that around his Suite.
- [ ] So 2 x Suites to be completed by year end 2020 and another 2-Suites for 1st quarter 2021. They were kind enough to ask Gilded Lion to come in for the Paintings, Prints, Photographs, Decorations ie little objects, Memorabilia and the Books for the Writers Cabinet for each Suite. The Writers Cabinet is exciting. For example, for Noel Coward, the 1st shelf was a large selection of his writings, autobiographies, recordings too for all the comedy etc, 2nd shelf is related subjects to his life but in the Malaysian context ie plays & theatres in Malaya, famous malay, indian, and chinese poetries translated in English, our cinema in the 50s, our circus in the 50s, and yes of course i included something on Rose Chan, rare books on Syair, other pre-war subjects, and the 3rd shelf are books by his peers, fellow comedians, playwrights, colourful figures from the 20s, special editions by T.S Eliot, Bernard Shaw etc etc. Did you know we have fantastic book dealers locally. The ones that has decided to do business and find good books but not charge ridiculous prices. William Knox (Penang) and Ahmad Luqman (Melaka), bookdealers whose help is much appreciated. Suites are not open until MCO is over i guess. Right now we are working on the Rudyard Kipling and Hermann Hesse Suites due end of next month.

Aah, and a life-size Bust was commissioned for each Writer. Using hard clay. Made locally by young chinese girls who have real talent, but absolutely no idea who these men they are doing the bust of, but they did such a wonderful job, and all they had was one photograph i gave them of both men at a sitting in real life when they had their bust famously done. Of course under the watchful eye of their boss, my friend Sean from Goldliv, who does sculptures and founded the Wonder Food Museum in Penang.

So just sharing some photos of the work done. Im so grateful for such an interesting job and aIso thankful to have the distraction during this one year of lockdowns. I am sorry i dont have photos for Maugham’s Writers Cabinet, which is the most interesting one, and no detailed shots, but we had to fly back to KL as MCO was nearing.

Thank You. If you are still reading. Fret not if you have logged off halfway, i understand. So long. Goodnight all.

29/09/2020

Hello Dear Clients and Friends,
Erm i thought i had done this posting 2 weeks ago but i now realized that i dreamt it and didnt actually send it. Well 2 weeks ago, i was....and still am....excited beyond measures to present ‘Fine Prints’ - a glorious and very large Exhibition & Sale at the Lobby of the Grand Hotel, the Eastern & Oriental (E&O) in Penang from the 12th September 2020 - November sometime. A overabundance of Prints (engravings, etchings, aquatints, lithographs etc) from the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century. Although one local guy came up to me and ask ‘this one all fotostet is it’...Anyway, hundreds and hundreds of framed and unframed works, exciting exciting, all for sale. Of course....naturally...some of you will say ‘ugh is this the right time to do this, we will come back with a print and covid 19..!
No no no. No. Of course its the right time. I know because of what i do before i decide to set up any exhibition. First of all i take out a piece of paper, then i write down all the segments of population that DO NOT buy from me. And here is the list of those that do not buy from me -
(1) My Clients
(2) My Family
(3) My Friends
(4) Anyone born and raised in Penang
(5) Chindian people
- But this is not because chindian people dont want to, its because they are so busy fielding questions about their parentage. Barrage of questions. You know why, because its actually very very taboo. I dont even know why no one talks about it, a Chinese and an Indian mating. I lie awake at night thinking about it, how taboo. And secretive. Should be frowned upon. Gone on for as long as i remember, but years later, its still taboo because there has not ever been Chindian p**n made...and thats why. Did you know this. Dont have. मत करो / 没有. In*******al is no biggie now because there was p**n made at a point, it broke all the misconception, so its nothing now. Not even if both are fat. But no one, no one, has ever seen a Chindian p**n, not even a Chinese and an Indian kiss even. Even if you say it slowly, chineseeeee and indiannnnnnn matingggg, it will give you goosebumps, i have goosebumps all over. Such is the level of taboo. My goodness, and no one talks about it. The Government pretends like its normal. And the Temples, Churches, Mosque, they hide this secret. You know, the Chindian is unique to Malaysia only....and when they mate the female also takes 9 months before she gives birth. Its like that flower Rafflesia, thats also unique to Malaysia and takes 9 months to give birth. So anyway....thats why they dont buy from me, they are busy.
(6) Anyone that has ever bought one thing from me.
So there i have my list. Then i calculate that is 30% of Malaysia’s population. Which is 33 million people. 30% of that is 9 million people. 9 million potential customers! 9 million people. And what do you think i should do, just sit at home and play with my cat! No no no. No. I must do a wonderful exhibition and sale like no other. And because of the venue it is being held at, you are in for a treat....it truly looks marvellous. You would need to bite yourself to believe its by me, who is known for tack. We have early prints from Alain Manesson-Mallet, a former Musketeer who became a glorified Cartographer - his early views of India, Siam, Egypt, and a nice one in the brochure, coral picking in Asia, and so on, we have truly wonderful Catholic prints, and i am showing both, from the 1599 ones to the 2018 ones, portraits of Theologist and portraits of Popes, framed in gold no less, rare copperplate engravings by Hebrew Bibles done by Jewish printers in secret in Frankfurt in the 17th century, we have copious amount of early wood engravings of South East Asia that were printed in publications like the London Illustrated News in the 1800s, so early that they were before photos were even considered a medium for printed words in the newspapers etc, works published during Colonial rule in Asia ie British Burma, Cochin China, early views of Laos, portraits of Kings with their various wives, most were the first time its ever been printed for public, and etc etc, we have lots of interesting maps, even local ones, Siam States of Malaya etc, colonial era maps, maps in Latin, military maps etc, we have hundreds of early exploration and discovery engravings, native world views of South America, early views of the Amazon amongst others, animal engravings, monkeys, gibbons, chimpanzees, we have beautiful European, Greek, Italian engravings from the 18th century onwards, from famous publications, wonderful procession scenes, we have Royal portraits, scarce scarce Military Tactics, and...and a huge selection of truly beautiful Orientalist works, and im keeping this un-framed but mounted only so its very affordable, early works on the Muslim Mediterranean, lots of original engravings and aquatints by famous people like Luigi Mayer, who was hired by Sir Robert Ainslie, who had taken up the position of ambassador to the Ottoman Porte for the British Empire in the 18th century, and Mayer was asked to work on some of the most beautiful and first views in colour, of Istanbul, and the Bosphorus, and Damascus in Syria, glorious scenes of Palestine, highly collectible works in entire series by Thomas Allom amongst others, engravings of early Morocco, Alexandria, Cathargo, etc and you know, these were all once such special works, such special work, because this is all all there was at that time, it was all before there was a camera and people could rely on photography to imagine what another country looks like. So a truly exciting sale. Most of them ive never put up for sale before, all hidden in cabinets and boxes in the shop. The ‘Fine Prints’ exhibit and sale will be on for a couple of months, and the un-framed mounted works mentioned above starts from RM350 so be quick, because they will go. Yes granted, my fault i am 2 weeks late in informing you, i know, so do forgive me. For now, here are the photographs of the exhibition. I am also including in this posting the Catalogues for ALL the works,in 4 parts, links to pdf below. If you have trouble opening the file, i can send very quickly through whatsapp just text Catalogues please. Prices stated are prices at the exhibition, for discounts just call me and butter me up 😘. The Asian wood engravings at RM850 for the framed ones are fixed price. And so are the mounted ones at around RM400. To see all the works framed up and what you will get just refer to the exhibition photos in glorious technicolour. Enjoy enjoy. Oh....and all the objects you see there are also for sale. The props alongside it. The magnificent marbles and the bronzes and the plasters, and the alabasters and the urns and the bust and the statues, even that 4ft long sublime Bronze Panther and the 10ft ethnic standing figure. The objects alone are so wonderful. And all the Books are for sale. The Books. They are prop here, and i never put them up for sale in the shop before this, but here, they are all for sale. Objects and books i will do a catalogue too give me few days i will upload here. And maybe another Catalogue of unframed prints as bonus ok. So there, you go and you celebrate that you have no covid 19. Open daily, till very late into the evenings. Call me if anything (017-6125634). You will never see me there. Can you imagine, some white person comes to me and ask me ‘erm whats the difference between an aquatint and engraving’. Can you imagine..i dont bloody hell know....
im a malay....so i will never go....
Thank You for Reading.

And 🤭🤭 oops, maybe now i think back, the portion about the Chindian came out wrong.....maybe......oops 🤭. But ive never had a Chindian client before...i always wonder...

Brochure:
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZ4KBJXZ0o4MsGm3JLjdaJCAaqX9qp19YOyy

Catalogue:
Part 1:
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZeqBJXZd40zOTo63EfHGhU2R6sMVHQp1Fqy

Part 2:
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZOqBJXZcKQmExDTgDJIqwmh52WsdJhXVr7y

Part 3:
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZptBJXZQRu57yDdMSHSvGDFWV1U1VzzgVJy

Part 4:
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZTtBJXZJA1o559Ilouaq0cs0Apz6FADsrOy

31/08/2020

Dear Clients and Friends....All of us at Gilded Lion would like to wish all of you a Happy National Day today. No Monday Blues.....🤗😋

03/07/2020

ANTIQUES & VINTAGE & COLLECTIBLES FAIR THIS WEEKEND! The 1st of many antiques and vintage fair at SACC Mall Shah Alam this weekend. Free. Many vendors. We are participating as well! Come and visit! 10am - 10pm. 1st Floor. Plenty of parking. Wear mask.

25/04/2020

Evening Clients and Some Friends. During this at times content and at times forlorn period of Lockdown, where parents all over the world are together with their children, daily, all day, all the hours, in close proximity, some children are late teens, and these would be the closest some parents have been to their children since they were little. And at Gilded Lion, we know what every parent is thinking. Every mother is thinking..’who is the fairest, me or my daughter’... and every father is thinking ‘who is the fairest, me or my son’. If that is the case, do not panic. With close proximity comes close observation. Just natural. But in this context, my dear Clients and Some Friends, I only have two words for you, yes, its Gilded Lion Gorgeous Stunning Armageddon Antique Mirrors. Yes. With built-in Nano technology perfected during the Cold War, (in real life i say this line to the Clients very quickly, and when they hear these flurry of words which they rarely hear in their daily lives, suddenly..kerching.....sold. Yes. Anyway, with built-in, yes custom fit to recognise the fairest of them all is the one with the most money. Yes. The mirrors dont judge anyone who is fat, just recognise true beauty through one’s wealth. And when you hear it every time you look these gorgeous mirrors, one day, when Lockdown is lifted, you will start to believe. Heads up, chin up, ready to take charge of parenting again. Dont believe me, well lets see, all these mirrors combined have gone through and lived through these events, amongst many others:
Austro-Hungarian War, O***m War, Boer War, World War 1, World War 2, Bosnian War, Internal Wars of Afghanistan, French Occupation of Algerie, Cold War, American Civil War, The Napolean Invasion, Japanese Occupation of Malaya, MCO Lockdown...

So you see, if these mirrors were not loyal to their owners, and said the right things at the right time, it would have been smashed like a rubble. We must believe.
However, Gilded Lion would like to apologise for not including front shots of the mirrors, its just that the reflection, in every shot, of the bitch squatting taking the photo, is ever so horrible. He looks like my evil twin Dez. And with that wig like hairdo, its as if the world is in some sort of lockdown and no one is allowed to go for haircut....right. But anyway, doesnt the fairest deserve a better mirror to look at....
From left to right and then floor:
(1) Brutalist-style Sculptural Mirror, European 1970s 118cm (h) x 58cm (w) RM1,400(2) Fine Walnut Biedermeier Mirror with Columns, Original Glass; Germany c. 1840 101cm (h) x 48cm (w) RM3,000 (3) Gilded Bronze/Wood Mirror with original glass; Vienna late 19th century 92cm x 50cm RM1,600 (4) Biedermeier with Burr Walnut Veneer; Germany c. 1840, original glass 113cm x 61cm RM3,300 (5) Gilt Wood Mirror from an 18th century English Castle, acquired from Lauritz, Denmark 135cm x 60cm RM1,600 (6) Antique English Bronze with Gilt Mirror, c. 1920s 60cm x 47cm RM700 (7) Gentlemen’s Table Top Shaving Mirror with Walnut & Geometric Marquetry surround with Porcelain Feet and original glass; England Edwardian Period c. 1910 72cm x 43cm RM1,300 (8) Pair of Medieval French Iron Wheel Hub from a Wheel Barrow, mirror later additions but old too; 18th century 20cm x 20cm RM250 each.

The Gilded Lion Antiques & Art Gallery

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