A person passionate about ancient Southern pottery

Collecting and learning about antiques is a hobby that is not for everyone. Mr. Trinh Van Thu (Thoai Son district) is one of those people. He collects antiques, old items, from stamps, Oc Eo pottery, old money, to all kinds of ceramics. Particularly for Southern pottery, Mr. Thu has deeply researched and collected Lai Thieu - Binh Duong pottery, especially "mini pots". The current quantity is just enough to display a small, pretty and impressive cabinet at home.

Southern pottery was born and popularized around the mid-nineteenth century, leaving a strong cultural mark with its simple, familiar beauty, close to life. The products they make are exactly the same as the simple, honest people of the South. Although they are just items made of baked clay, they have great value in the material and spiritual life of all forms of people's activities. Until now, ceramic products still exist, can be used or displayed, becoming a unique field of play for those who love to collect antiques.

Miniature ceramic pot collection of Mr. Trinh Van Thun

Since 2018, Mr. Thu has been collecting miniature pottery pots - a type of pottery with an 80-year history, in Lai Thieu. According to Mr. Thu, they are valuable not because of their value, but because they are no longer available. In recent years, the trend of using antiques has become popular again. Cups, plates, pots, vases, etc. in the simple style of decades ago are mass-produced, meeting customer needs in all sizes. However, they cannot compare to the rare objects bearing traces of time that are still preserved in people's homes.

With small pots the size of a hand, used to hold spices, nestled in a simple corner of the kitchen, now become souvenirs that everyone cherishes and preserves. Over time, they have become evidence of cultural heritages associated with the land and people of the South, preserving many beautiful aspects of life along the flow of history with many ups and downs... They contain the childhood of many people, some are still intact, some are chipped and have to be glued back together, the ink has faded over the years...

As an art teacher, Mr. Thu looks at these artifacts with a special feeling. The patterns on each item are not "golden molds and jade rulers" like Chinese, Jiangxi, Japanese pottery..., but are just simple lines that anyone can draw. It is in the simple hand-drawn lines of flowers, chickens, fish, dragonflies, bamboo fences... that no two designs are alike, unintentionally creating the unique style of pottery. Each product is not ornate and elaborate, closely related to daily life, but shows that since ancient times, the kitchen corner has also paid attention to art, color, and image.

Although Mr. Thu's collection of nearly 100 mini pots is not as valuable as other large antique collections, in the same category, this is a rare set in the country. The lowest pot is only worth a few hundred thousand dong, the highest is about 1 - 2 million dong. With this price, people who make a living by exchanging and trading antiques will not be interested. But for Mr. Thu, hundreds of pots are hundreds of different souls expressed through the patterns, the uniqueness that not everyone can possess. Even the traces of each type of spice imprinted on the porcelain layer leaving a distinct pattern color is also a point that collectors really like.

A few years ago, antique collectors who wanted to collect an artifact had to search a lot on the Internet and travel everywhere. Mr. Thu connected people with the same passion and established a regular playground in Nui Sap town and neighboring districts. Instead of having to travel as long as before to "see with their own eyes and touch with their own hands" the artifact, this playground helps people conveniently exchange and interact, and everyone has the opportunity to find an item according to their own interests.

There was a time when the antique collecting movement "blossomed" everywhere, but now it has somewhat slowed down. Some antique collectors who are economically inclined are concentrated in Long Xuyen City, mainly exchanging Japanese and Chinese pottery. Therefore, domestic antique lines, especially Southern pottery, are being put aside and turned away... Mr. Thu's wish is to revive this movement by gathering enthusiastic people, not placing too much emphasis on the value of the artifacts, but contributing to preserving the ancient culture of the Southern people in particular, and the beauty in the style of antique collectors in general.

HOAI ANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/nguoi-tam-huyet-voi-gom-nam-bo-xua-a420722.html