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Hoi
An Hoard: Lost and Found
(VN finearts news12/11/2003) During
the fifteenth century, a trading ship sank off the coast of Vietnam in the typhoon
zone called the Dragon Sea. Five hundred years later and despite dangerous conditions,
a salvage company retrieved 244,000 artifacts from the wreck - over half of which
were still intact.
The aution have been organized on 11th November 2003 in
Washington DC by Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers, 4605 Bradley
Boulevard, Bethesda, MD.
During the fifteenth century, a trading ship sank off the coast of Vietnam in
the typhoon zone called the Dragon Sea. Five hundred years later and despite dangerous
conditions, a salvage company retrieved 244,000 artifacts from the wreck - over
half of which were still intact. The exquisite porcelain pieces, including jars
shaped like phoenixes and boxes adorned with pagodas, most likely came from Chu
Dau, an ancient pottery center in the northern province of Hai Duong. In an event
preceding Sloans & Kenyos auction of 37 lots from the Hoi An Hoard, Ong Soo
Hin, president of Saga Horizon Sdn Bhd salvage company, will talk about the discovery
of the wreck, salvaging techniques, what was recovered, the history of Chu Dau
ceramics and early trade in Southeast Asia.
Asiasociety
. | |
Folk
paintings
If you do like a collection of Dong Ho Painting Click
here to buy it!! (include 24 Paintings)
Dong Ho Paintings
FOLK
ART is an important component of a people's national culture. In Vietnam it comprises
the folk art
of the Kinh (Viet) national majority inhabiting the deltas and
those of ethnic minorities in the highlands.
They form part of a multinational
culture, which has deep historical roots. Folk woodcuts alone constitute
a treasure for collectors and researchers. The art for printing from woodblocks
dates back a long time,
being handed down by one generation to the next. Traditionally,
on the occasion of the Lunar New Year,
brightly-coloured woodprints were on
sale everywhere, from country to town, even in remote highland
areas, enhancing
the joyful mood of springtime celebrations. So they are called Tranh Tet (New
Year
Paintings) . Besides these Tranh Tet, religious prints called Tranh Tho
(Worship Paintings) were on sale
all the year round. Folk woodprints were
made in many places, either by people in whole villages or by members of individual
households. Among the best-known centres are Dong Ho (Ha Bac province), Hang Trong
(Hanoi , Kim Hoang (Ha Tay province) , Nam Hoanh (Nghe Tinh province) , Sinh (Hue)
. . .
Regardless of their origin, these Paintings always renect social life,
although each production centre is characterized by expressive forms and Media
of its own. Two main streams of folk woodprint imagery with long-standing traditions
are the Dong Ho and the Hang Trong lines.
Vietnamese folk woodprints display
great spontaneity of expression. Both their content and form show distinct originality:
meaning and composition, motif drawing and palette.., and a sharp sense of humour
in treatment.
Besides woodcuts, Vietnamese folk imagery includes anonymous
Paintings painted by members of ethnic minorities living in the northem highlands
: Tay, Nung, Zao, Caolan etc. These Paintings, almost exclusively religious, are
linked with Buddhist or Taoist behefs, but carry specific features of the art
of each nationality, sprung from the latter's culture, lifeway and customs. The
"Praying for Flower " painting, for instance, is used by the Tay in
their worship of the Goddess Mother Flower , to whom they pray to have a son or
a daughter. The effigy of Ban Co, the mythical ancestor of the Zao, is worshipped
for
the protection he bestowed on his people during their southward migtation
in the immemorial past.
The image of Than nong, the God of Agriculture, is
present during the traditional rituals of the "Setting up the Granary"
ceremony which opens every farming season among the Caolan...
Although involving
prayers to a multitude of gods, fairies, Taoist and Buddhist deities, even to
ghosts and demons in the heavens and on earth, those rituals and festivities are
mostly inspired by the people's wish for bumper crops, and are occasions for popular
entertainments.
Religious paintings are also present at funeral ceremonies
to express the people's aspiration, the profound wish of the family of the dead
to free the spirits of their loved one from the torments of hell, and guide them
to the Buddhist Nirvana or the Taoist world of immortals. Some Paintings, describing
the frightful punishments meted out in hell to those who have committed serious
crimes, warn men against wrong doings, commend ethical behaviour, and extol lifeways,
thoughts and actions that are morally right...
Basically these works are
painted in gouache on paper. Depending on its provenance, a subject may be treated
in different compositions and offers many variants.
Vietnamese folk Paintings,
especially popular woodprints, have become an artistic expression of lasting value,
contributing to the development of national culture and art, and remain a cultural
pride for the Vietnamese nation.
Nguyen Ba Van and Phan Ngoc Khue
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PaiPaintings
Hang Trong |
PPaintings
worshop | |
Kim
Hoang Paintings |
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