National Treasures of Singapore
The national treasures of Singapore are artifacts deemed to have significant historical importance to the country of Singapore.
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.
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 |
Example |
2 |
Portrait of Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham |
Portrait of the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States, by John Singer Sargent |
1904 |
Example |
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 |
Example |
7 |
Portrait of Sir Shenton Thomas |
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 commissoned by William Farquhar |
19th century |
Example |
10 |
A wooden hearse |
Used for the funeral of Chinese philanthropist Tan Jiak Kim |
1917 |
Example |
11 |
Embroidered Chinese coffin cover |
Example |
Example |
Example |
12 |
A glove puppet stage |
Belonging to the Fujian puppet troupe, Xin Sai Le |
1930s |
Example |