‘NUTMEG ORCHARD’ Table Runner

Thoughtfully handmade in Singapore.

Nutmeg trees once covered the low hills around what is now Singapore's Orchard Road, their broad glossy leaves catching the light and casting deep, cool shade over the red earth beneath. Rows of them stretched across the slopes near Fort Canning, planted in the hope that the spice would bring the young settlement prosperity. Each tree bore pale yellow fruit that split open to reveal a lacquered red web of mace wrapped around a dark, fragrant seed.

In season, the warm air carried a sweet, resinous scent across the hillsides, drawing traders eager for the harvest bound for distant ports. The orchards gave the landscape a quiet elegance, their canopies swaying gently in the sea breeze that swept up from the harbour below.

As Singapore grew and new roads and buildings rose where the groves once stood, the memory of those fragrant trees remained, preserved in the names of streets that still wind through the city today.