Personal mark

As reported by Thua Thien Hue Newspaper, recently, an extremely valuable set of Truong Tien Bridge design documents was successfully auctioned and brought back to Hue by a Vietnamese American woman of Hue origin - Ms. Truong Thi Thanh Huong. The fact that Ms. Truong Thi Thanh Huong successfully auctioned the Truong Tien Bridge design documents and brought them back to donate to Hue once again reinforces a fact: In recent years, a number of Vietnamese antiques have been "repatriated", but mainly by private collectors at home and abroad who participated in overseas auctions, successfully auctioned them and brought the antiques back to the country.

Typically, in 2010, antique collector Cao Xuan Truong in Hanoi successfully auctioned a gold-plated silver book of conferment by King Thieu Tri on his wife Vu Thi Vien, from the rank of Luong Tan to the rank of Luong Phi in 1846 for nearly 100,000 USD and was able to repatriate this book. Or in 2015, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, through an intermediary, successfully auctioned a 108-year-old rickshaw of Queen Mother Tu Minh (mother of King Thanh Thai), organized by the Château de Cheverny Auction House (France), for nearly 1.345 billion VND. The rickshaw was brought back to Hue and is currently on display at Ta Tra in Dien Tho Palace.

The Nguyen Dynasty's mandarin hat was successfully auctioned by Sunshine Group and donated to Thua Thien Hue province to serve the goal of preserving and promoting the value of Hue's cultural heritage.

In 2021, Sunshine Group Joint Stock Company, headquartered in Thua Thien Hue, successfully auctioned two antiques organized by Balclis Auction House in Catalan (Spain), including a Nguyen Dynasty mandarin hat (dating from the late 19th century - early 20th century), for 650,000 euros (excluding taxes and fees) and a Nguyen Dynasty Japanese-style shirt for 160,000 euros (excluding taxes and fees). These two antiques were donated by Sunshine Group Joint Stock Company to Thua Thien Hue province and are currently on display at the Hue Royal Antiquities Museum.

Or in March 2023, two antique collectors in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi successfully cooperated to auction a set of gold tea sets from the Nguyen Dynasty (dating back to the reign of Khai Dinh) organized by the Drouot Auction House in Paris (France), and repatriated these antiques to Vietnam. In December 2023, an antique collector in Ho Chi Minh City auctioned the volumes of Thanh Che Thi (second and fourth volumes) and Thanh Che Van (first volume) composed by King Minh Mang (1820 - 1841), from an auction organized by Drouot in Paris. And most recently, which also consumed the most press ink, was the case of the Nguyen Dynasty's "Hoang De Chi Bao" golden seal, which was officially repatriated on the morning of November 18, 2023.

In addition, over the years, many Dong Son bronze objects (bronze drums, lampstands, bronze jars, daggers, etc.), Vietnamese ceramics dating from the Ly - Tran to Nguyen dynasties, signed porcelain, paintings by famous Vietnamese artists of the Indochina period, etc. have been successfully auctioned by many private collectors from auctions in Paris, London, Amsterdam, New York, Bangkok, Jakarta, etc. and brought to Vietnam.

How to "repatriate" more Vietnamese antiques?

In fact, the number of antiquities that have been “repatriated” to Vietnam over the years accounts for a very small proportion compared to the large number of Vietnamese antiquities that have been “lost” abroad through various routes due to historical circumstances and are currently in museums and private collections around the world. According to Dr. Tran Duc Anh Son, former Director of the Hue Royal Antiquities Museum, there are many reasons for this situation. The most important of which is that Vietnam does not have a legal framework allowing organizations and individuals to participate in auctions of antiquities abroad. We have had and still have too little information about Vietnamese antiquities abroad, including antiquities sold in auctions. There is no appropriate policy for “repatriating antiquities”. Therefore, it is very difficult to “repatriate” Vietnamese cultural heritages that are “lost” back to the country.

In order to avoid being “slow” when purchasing Vietnamese antiques abroad and to be able to repatriate those antiques, the Vietnamese government needs to have reasonable and open policies.

Specifically, it is necessary to issue legal documents allowing organizations and individuals in Vietnam to participate in auctions of antiques abroad. There needs to be a legal market for buying and selling antiques in the country, recognized by the State and protected by a strict but open legal system. It is necessary to create conditions for reputable auction houses such as: Sotheby's, Christie's, Butterfield, Nagel Auction, Loudmer, Spink... to participate in investing in the auction market of antiques and fine arts in Vietnam.

Public museums should have experts who specialize in collecting information on the sale and auction of Vietnamese antiques abroad to quickly obtain the necessary information. From there, museums can make plans and propose to competent authorities to allocate funds to purchase these antiques. Finally, the State needs to have appropriate policies to encourage the "repatriation" of antiques (not just Vietnamese antiques) from abroad, such as Ms. Truong Thi Thanh Huong's successful auction of the Truong Tien Bridge design documents, which is also a common practice in South Korea and Japan. "I know that many overseas Vietnamese currently own very valuable collections of Vietnamese antiques. They want to "repatriate" these antiques but are still hesitant because they do not clearly understand the Vietnamese State's policy on these "repatriated" antiques," said Dr. Tran Duc Anh Son.

Article: Hoang Van Minh

Photo: Hue Royal Antiquities Museum