National Treasures of Singapore

The national treasures of Singapore are artifacts deemed to have significant historical importance to the country of Singapore.[1]

Definition of National Treasures in Singapore

Unlike countries such as South Korea or Japan, there is no central authority which maintains and awards a national treasure status for these artifacts. The National Museum of Singapore, being the custodian of most of these "treasures" and the National Heritage Board being the coordinating authority of history in Singapore have at different times, came up with different lists.[2]

List of Artifacts

Below is a list of artifacts considered to be National Treasures by the National Museum of Singapore.

S/N	Name	Description	Year	Image
1	Singapore Stone	The Singapore Stone is a fragment of a large sandstone slab which originally stood at the mouth of the Singapore River, believed to date back to at least the 13th century and possibly as earlier.	Unknown	Singapore Stone
2	Portrait of Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham	Portrait of the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States, by John Singer Sargent	1904	Sir Frank Swettenham by John Singer Sargent 1904
3	Last will and testament of Munshi Abdullah	Munshi Abdullah is widely considered as the father of modern Malay literature and was scribe and copyist for Sir Stamford Raffles.	1854	Example
4	Mace of the City of Singapore	Chinese philanthropist Loke Wan Tho in conjunction with King George VI granting Singapore a Royal Charter in 1951	1951	Example
5	Daguerreotype view from Fort Canning Hill	By French customs service officer Alphonse-Eugene Jules	1844	Example
6	Gold armlets and rings from Fort Canning	East Javanese style, found at Fort Canning Hill	1928	Javanese Gold Ornaments
7	Portrait of Sir Stamford Raffles	Portrait of the founder of Singapore by noted painter Xu Beihong	1939	Example
8	Natural history drawings of flora and fauna	Collection of 477 drawings commissioned by William Farquhar	19th century	Top left: gambier; top right: black pepper; bottom left: wild nutmeg (Gymnacranthera farquhariana); bottom right: durian
9	A wooden hearse	Used for the funeral of Chinese philanthropist Tan Jiak Kim	1917	Example
10	Embroidered Chinese coffin cover	One of the largest of its kind in existence in Singapore	unknown	Example
11	A glove puppet stage	Belonging to the Fujian puppet troupe, Xin Sai Le	1930s	Example

References

Lim, Wei Chean (31 January 2006). "Singapore's Treasures". The Straits Times. Items listed as national treasures of Singapore are: (1) a fragment of a 13th century sandstone slab bearing an undeciphered inscription known as the Singapore Stone; (2) a 1904 portrait of Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham, the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States, by John Singer Sargent; (3) the last will and testament of Munshi Abdullah, the father of modern Malay literature; (4) the mace of the City of Singapore (1953) that was presented by Chinese philanthropist Loke Wan Tho in conjunction with King George VI granting Singapore a Royal Charter in 1951, raising its status to a city; (5) an 1844 daguerreotype of the view from Fort Canning Hill by French customs service officer Alphonse-Eugene Jules, one of the earliest photographic images of Singapore; (6) 14th-century gold armlets and rings in East Javanese style, found at Fort Canning Hill in 1928; (7) a 1939 portrait of Sir Shenton Thomas, the last Governor of the Straits Settlements, by painter Xu Beihong; (8) a collection of 477 natural history drawings of flora and fauna in Melaka commissioned by Resident of Singapore William Farquhar in the 19th century; (9) a wooden hearse used for the funeral of Chinese philanthropist Tan Jiak Kim in 1917; (10) an early 20th-century embroidered Chinese coffin cover, one of the largest of its kind in existence in Singapore; and (11) a glove puppet stage belonging to the Fujian puppet troupe, Xin Sai Le, which came to Singapore in the 1930s.
"Our Top Twelve Artefacts". National Heritage Board. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.

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[1] Lim, Wei Chean (31 January 2006). "Singapore's Treasures". The Straits Times. Items listed as national treasures of Singapore are: (1) a fragment of a 13th century sandstone slab bearing an undeciphered inscription known as the Singapore Stone; (2) a 1904 portrait of Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham, the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States, by John Singer Sargent; (3) the last will and testament of Munshi Abdullah, the father of modern Malay literature; (4) the mace of the City of Singapore (1953) that was presented by Chinese philanthropist Loke Wan Tho in conjunction with King George VI granting Singapore a Royal Charter in 1951, raising its status to a city; (5) an 1844 daguerreotype of the view from Fort Canning Hill by French customs service officer Alphonse-Eugene Jules, one of the earliest photographic images of Singapore; (6) 14th-century gold armlets and rings in East Javanese style, found at Fort Canning Hill in 1928; (7) a 1939 portrait of Sir Shenton Thomas, the last Governor of the Straits Settlements, by painter Xu Beihong; (8) a collection of 477 natural history drawings of flora and fauna in Melaka commissioned by Resident of Singapore William Farquhar in the 19th century; (9) a wooden hearse used for the funeral of Chinese philanthropist Tan Jiak Kim in 1917; (10) an early 20th-century embroidered Chinese coffin cover, one of the largest of its kind in existence in Singapore; and (11) a glove puppet stage belonging to the Fujian puppet troupe, Xin Sai Le, which came to Singapore in the 1930s.

[2] "Our Top Twelve Artefacts". National Heritage Board. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.