GIFT IDEAS THE SINGAPORE EDITION

The festive season has a way of arriving quickly. One week the calendar feels open, the next there is a list of names and a growing sense that the usual gift sets won't quite do.

If you're looking for unique gifts this year, something with a little more thought and character behind it, our showroom is a good place to start. Alongside our colonial antique furniture, we keep a considered selection of pieces that are smaller in size and well suited to gifting. Some have a long history behind them. Others are made today by brands we admire. All of them are things people tend to keep.

This is our guide to Christmas gifts, Singapore edition. It covers gift ideas for different people and occasions, from something special for a partner to a thoughtful gesture for a friend, a host or a colleague. Many of these pieces also make good house warming gifts and farewell gifts well beyond December.

SMALL GIFT IDEAS WITH A LONG HISTORY

Brass has been part of daily life in Indian homes for generations. It was used to carry, store and serve, and the pieces that survive show the marks of that use. Over time brass develops a soft patina that can't be replicated, and no two pieces age in quite the same way. That makes them unique gifts in the truest sense.

Our brass water containers, also from Rajasthan, were made for storing water. With their flared rims, rounded bodies and handles set on decorative backplates, they now sit well as a decorative piece or a planter. For anyone setting up a new home, they are among the more distinctive house warming gifts we carry.

© The Past Perfect Collection-brass water containers

Small, decorative wooden boxes, mostly from the Kashmir region, are made for keeping jewellery, keepsakes or small everyday things close to hand. Some have hand carved designs of leaves and branches across the lid and sides. Others are decorated with fine brass inlay set in patterns that catch the light. In our collection we also have small decorative boxes made of brass or bronze. They have no compartments or fittings, just a well made box that is easy to use and easy to give. 

© The Past Perfect Collection-small wooden decorative boxes

We also have a small number of solid silver candlesticks, sold in pairs. They aren’t listed on our website so they can only be seen in the showroom. A pair of silver candlesticks is a generous gift for a partner or family member, and they are the kind of piece that gets brought out every festive season and for special occasions throughout the year.

© The Past Perfect Collection-silver candlesticks from India

A GIFT WITH A PURPOSE

Some of the best gift ideas are the ones that get used every day. Our vintage black clay vases date from the early 20th century and come from southern British colonial India. Each is hand made fired black clay finished with a glistening brass band rim around the top. These clay vases are fantastic architectural pieces on their own but also make excellent containers around the home by adding fake or live plants. Just choose your favorite space to add a pop of colour indoors or out on a balcony or verandah. It's practical, it has a story and it will last. That makes it one of the more meaningful house warming gifts for someone moving into a new home.

© The Past Perfect Collection-vintage clay vases from southern India

ANTIQUE MAPS

Of all the gift ideas in this guide, a map is perhaps the most personal. It connects someone to a place, whether that’s where they grew up, where they met or where they’ve spent years living.

© The Past Perfect Collection-framed Singapore street map

Our antique maps of Singapore are especially meaningful as gifts. One city map of Singapore from Brockhaus, published around the turn of the 20th century, shows Beach Road running along the shoreline before land reclamation, and the Hotel de l’Europe on the site of today’s City Hall. For anyone who knows Singapore well, there is real pleasure in finding familiar places on a map more than a hundred years old.

They make a thoughtful festive gift for someone who calls Singapore home, and among the most fitting farewell gifts for friends leaving after years here. Our wider collection focuses on South and North East Asia, Singapore and Australia, with original engravings from the 18th and 19th centuries. A selection is available online, but we hold more in the showroom, so it’s worth visiting to see the full range.

GOOD EARTH SINGAPORE

Good Earth is an Indian design house known for its tableware, ceramics and textiles. We are the only place in Singapore where you can see and buy Good Earth in person, and we've chosen pieces from the range that sit naturally alongside our antiques.

Seeing a tea set, a dinner plate or a cushion cover in person gives you more of an idea about the item. You can judge colour, weight and scale, and select the piece that suits the person you have in mind.

The range in the showroom includes dining sets, tea sets, mugs, cushions, trays, platters and cake stands. A set of tea plates or a pair of mugs makes an easy, yet special,  gift for a friend. A dinner service or a two tier cake stand is a more generous choice for family or a partner, and trays and platters are reliable house warming gifts. If you're searching for Good Earth Singapore stockists, you can browse part of the range on our website, then visit the showroom to buy.

© The Past Perfect Collection-Good Earth products from India

A KEEPSAKE OF SINGAPORE

Memory Boards celebrate Singapore through colourful designs on wall art, trays, keepsake boxes, placemats and coasters. We have the largest collection of Memory Boards pieces on show in Singapore.

The designs vary widely in style and colour, so it helps to see them together and choose one that suits the space it's going into. They are a popular choice for farewell gifts, a reminder of Singapore for someone heading home, and they work just as well for a friend who has lived here all their life. Memory Boards are available in the showroom only.

© The Past Perfect Collection-Memory Boards Singapore

BEAUTIFUL SCENTS

Temple Candles are made in Singapore, with botanical scents inspired by the tropics and the wider region. The candles come in glassware made to be kept long after the candle has burned down, and the range includes room diffusers. A candle or diffuser is an easy, well received gift for a host, a colleague or a neighbour. Temple Candles are only available in the showroom.

© The Past Perfect Collection-Temple Candles Singapore

VISIT THE SHOWROOM

The best gift ideas are often found by seeing things side by side. Our showroom gives you the space to do that, with antiques, Good Earth Singapore, Memory Boards and Temple Candles all under one roof. If you're looking for unique gifts this season, or Christmas gifts Singapore friends and family will keep for years, we'd be glad to help you choose.

The Past Perfect Collection
100 Pasir Panjang Road, #04-10, Singapore 118518
Tuesday to Saturday, 11.00 am to 6.00 pm
Sunday, 1.00 pm to 6.00 pm
Closed on Mondays