FROM MAKING A LIVING TO SUPPLIES OF LIVING
Starting in 1977, Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuc began his career buying and selling Southern Vietnamese ceramics and lacquerware with a simple thought: "In these difficult times, anything that can be sold is good." Instead of pursuing expensive imported goods, he chose a path that suited his economic means, seeking out affordable items. He traveled throughout Lai Thieu, Binh Duong, Bien Hoa, and Cho Lon, seeking out any items he heard about. His familiar stopping points weren't just secondhand markets, but also the homes of artisans, potters, and teachers from the Bien Hoa School of Fine Arts and the Gia Dinh School of Fine Arts… Sometimes he would buy a few items, other times he would simply hear stories and learn details of the craft passed down through generations.
Nguyen Huu Phuc (right) discusses Bien Hoa ceramic artifacts with researcher Ly Than.
PHOTO: PHONG AN
These encounters helped Phuc Lai Thieu accumulate knowledge about artisans, techniques, and the history of Southern Vietnamese pottery, paintings, sculptures, and lacquerware. Names like Tu Phep, Ba May, Nam Khom, and the painters of the Thanh Le kiln gradually became close friends. He preserved not only the artifacts of these artisans and artists of a bygone era, but also the fascinating stories behind them.
Phuc Lai Thieu's reputation isn't built on the quantity of artifacts, but on the way he hunts for them and tells their stories. He often seeks out families of Lai Thieu pottery artisans, who still possess forgotten or never-before-sold items. Thanks to long-standing, close relationships, when families need to sell their items, Phuc Lai Thieu is their first choice.
"K HAI QUAT" PAST
Not long ago, the villa of Governor Vo Ha Thanh on the Dong Nai River was the subject of heated discussion regarding heritage, architecture, preservation, or demolition. Phuc Lai Thieu recounted: "That house had a lot of things. The last items I managed to buy were two lamp posts imported from France. The family had dismantled them and brought them inside, keeping them since my grandfather's time. I've known that family for over 40 years; whenever they needed to sell something, they would call me. The pair of lamp posts were the last two items I bought from them. The old lady instructed her children and grandchildren to be very careful, only selling them to me because she said I was a close friend and they valued me, so they let me have them."
The Thành Lễ vase depicts the story of Queen Trưng's campaign against the Han dynasty.
PHOTO: PHONG AN
In Phuc Lai Thieu's collecting career, another memorable artifact is a Thanh Le vase, nearly 80 cm tall, depicting the Trung Sisters' campaign against the Han . This product belongs to the first batch of blue and white pottery from the Thanh Le kiln in the 1960s, but it has flaws: the blue glaze is scorched by the fire, the white glaze is pitted, and the pottery body is unevenly fired.
Saigon's artisans of yesteryear understood the strict standards of Thanh Le; defective products were never allowed to reach the market. Mr. Tu Phep, the warehouse manager and salesman for the Thanh Le store at 151-159 Tu Do Street (now Dong Khoi Street) from 1962 to 1966, was ordered to destroy the entire batch of kiln-fired items. Among the countless discarded items, Mr. Tu Phep kept one vase to use for storing rice.
It was Mr. Phúc Lái Thiêu who "unearthed" that forgotten artifact; the story of the vase evokes the golden age of Thành Lễ's handicrafts. Speaking about the artifact he once preserved, Mr. Tư Phép recounted: "The ceramic body was created by artisan Bảy Vạn, using the classic potter's wheel shaping technique. The dragon head relief was handled by Út Nở, and the decorative motif depicting the Two Trung Sisters defeating the Han army was designed by artist Thái Văn Ngôn." It can be said that Thành Lễ was a pioneer in combining "superstars" from various fields into a single handicraft product, achieving great success in bringing Vietnamese handicrafts to the world stage.
Mr. Tu Phep (in white shirt) and researcher Ly Than
PHOTO: PHONG AN
Speaking about his art collecting hobby, Phuc Lai Thieu expressed: "Many items are precious to me, but insignificant to others. When I collect unique and rare items, I often invite friends, researchers, and journalists to share the joy and answer questions about their history, origin, and design stories… It's also a way to learn more, because in this profession, you can't understand everything." This approach has made him a bridge between collectors and researchers. Many students, journalists, and researchers from Southern Vietnam, when needing to see artifacts for research, often seek him out for information and ask him to take them to meet witnesses from the past.
KEEP YOUR WORD, KEEP YOUR LOVE
Not only a collector, Nguyen Huu Phuc was also the initiator of the antique collecting movement in Thuan An - Lai Thieu (formerly Binh Duong, now part of Ho Chi Minh City). During the period of 2012-2013, he established an association, gathered fellow collectors, and organized numerous exchanges and exhibitions of Southern Vietnamese ceramics at museums in Binh Duong (formerly) and Ho Chi Minh City. This movement also led to the research and collection of Lai Thieu, Thanh Le, and Bien Hoa ceramics by many antique enthusiasts, contributing to the preservation and preservation of this valuable heritage.
A unique blue and white ceramic vase, bearing the inscription "Thanh Le Xuat Pham".
PHOTO: PHONG AN
After nearly 50 years in the trade, selling is no longer a priority for Phuc Lai Thieu; his collection of Southern Vietnamese art has grown larger. He still visits the families he knew from the past, and occasionally receives phone calls from people wanting to buy his items. There are artifacts he's known for 30-40 years, items he'd wanted to buy, but the owners were too well-off to sell them. Then one day they called, saying they wanted to buy them, at a price more like a gift than a commercial one. Reflecting on this, Phuc Lai Thieu simply says, "I was lucky."
The movement to collect Southern Vietnamese ceramics owes a great deal to Nguyen Huu Phuc's contributions.
PHOTO: PHONG AN
With his easygoing, generous nature, always speaking his mind, listening, learning, and helping those in need, Phuc Lai Thieu is like a "living dictionary" in the world of Southern Vietnamese antiques. He confided: "I'm not an expert, but I know where to find what I'm looking for, so I'm always willing to help anyone who wants to learn." This kind of camaraderie, generosity, and the distinctly Southern Vietnamese spirit of Phuc Lai Thieu are as precious as the works of art he has painstakingly collected over the years.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chu-tin-va-nghe-choi-cua-phuc-lai-thieu-185260427181455361.htm
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