What is special about the An Bien antique collection?
On January 18, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed a decision to recognize 29 national treasures (batch 12, 2023), of which 3 treasures are in the An Bien collection of businessman Tran Dinh Thang, General Secretary of the Hai Phong Antiquities Association.
The three treasures include: Dong Son bronze vase (An Bien), dating from Dong Son culture, 2nd - 1st century BC; Brown ceramic vase, dating from 11th - 12th century; Blue-gray ceramic incense burner, dating from around the Hung Tri era (1588 - 1591), under the reign of King Mac Mau Hop.
Mr. Tran Dinh Thang introduced 3 newly recognized national treasures.
Mr. Tran Dinh Thang's An Bien collection currently has 370 artifacts. Of these, 234 are of Vietnamese origin, including glazed ceramics, earthenware and bronze, dating from the 1st-3rd century AD to the 9th-10th century.
This group includes bronze objects such as drums, pots, incense burners, censer, bowls, plates... with Dong Son patterns; ceramic and terracotta objects such as house models, vases decorated with lotus patterns...
Glazed ceramics from the Ly, Tran, Le, Mac dynasties with many types of bowls, plates, vases, boxes, basins, and parallel sentences... are of unique white, brown, brown, and blue glazes. Many artifacts are of the blue and white ceramic line, originating from the ancient ship Cu Lao Cham. Based on this group of artifacts, we can see the representative characteristics of the history of ancient Vietnamese ceramics.
The collected artifacts of Mr. Tran Dinh Thang not only have historical and cultural value but are also highly valued.
In addition, the An Bien antique collection has 134 artifacts of Chinese origin, including ceramic and bronze materials dating from many periods from the Warring States - Eastern Han to the Song - Yuan - Ming - Qing dynasties.
In particular, there are only 3 copies of this artifact left in the world , one of which was sold by Sotherby's auction house for more than 1 million USD.
In this group of artifacts, the most notable are the types of bowls, plates, vases, boxes, etc. made of celadon, white glaze, blue and white, and multi-colored glaze. In particular, there is a blue and white porcelain bowl painted with vine motifs, typical of the Yuan Dynasty, very rare and precious. Or a dark blue vase painted with gold decoration from the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, there are dozens of large and small Buddha statues that Mr. Thang painstakingly collected. These statues are made of precious woods such as Hoang Dan and Ngoc Am. According to experts, the total value of these statues is worth nearly 3 million USD.
Dr. Pham Quoc Quan, an expert in the field of antiques, shared: Through the An Bien antique collection, he felt Tran Dinh Thang's burning passion for antiques with many years of hard work.
From bronze, ceramic, porcelain... of many feudal dynasties in Vietnam and China with all kinds of shapes, from bowls, plates, pots, pans, teapots, liễn... which are everyday items, to lamp stands, incense burners, and incense cups which are religious items, all are respected and preserved by Mr. Thang as treasures of his ancestors.
9 national treasures of Mr. Tran Dinh Thang were recognized by the State in 2021.
Unique numbers
In 3 consecutive years, from 2021 to 2023, Mr. Thang has been recognized as possessing national treasures 3 times.
In 2021, 9 white-glazed ceramic artifacts from the Ly Dynasty, including 4 teapots, 2 parallel sentences and 3 plates in Mr. Thang's collection, were recognized as national treasures.
Then, in 2022, Mr. Thang had 6 more artifacts recognized as national treasures, including 2 jade-glazed ceramic plates (dating from the Ly Dynasty, 11th - 12th century); purple-blue ceramic plates (dating from the Early Le Dynasty, 15th century); blue-and-white ceramic incense burners (dating from the Early Le Dynasty, 15th century); 2 bronze incense burners, lids of Nghe statues (dating from the 16th - 17th century).
6 national treasures of Mr. Tran Dinh Thang were recognized by the State in 2022.
When asked about the collector's three national treasure registrations, Mr. Tran Dinh Thang explained that according to folk beliefs, 18 is the number of yin-yang balance, following nature, bringing energy and good things to help career and industry reach the peak of perfection, stability and prosperity.
Vietnamese history has 18 Hung Kings, Buddhism has 18 Arhats, and one of the means of practicing Buddhism is the 18-bead rosary, a string that threads all thoughts into an order that helps practitioners go deep into the state of Concentration to develop Wisdom.
According to Mr. Bien, the 18 treasures are the results of An Bien's collection, serving as a channel, reflecting on the past to help people fully understand, recognize and promote the value of cultural heritage through antiques.
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