Around 140 ancient items such as golden swords and royal seals studded with gems will be exhibited at Vietnam History Museum in Hanoi on August 2.
An ancient urn of the Nguyen dynasty
The exhibition, titled “Vietnamese Ancient Gems,” will be the first of its kind organized by the history museum. Most of the gems are dated from the Le and Nguyen dynasties. Some, however, were much older.
The highlight of the collection is gem-inlaid paintings and statues such as exquisite Eight Immortals and Chinese Zodiac statues, which were created by artisans during the Nguyen dynasty in the 19th century.
Eight Immortals are a group of legendary saints in Chinese mythology while Chinese Zodiac is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle.
However, what makes Vietnam’s gem-inlaid paintings different from paintings of the same kind by Chinese artisans is the way they were created. For example, the Buddhist statues in the Eight Immortals collection have chignons and oval faces, which is very different to Chinese statues.
The number of precious gems had belonged to Nguyen Dynasty’s royal treasures before being handed over to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) after the August Revolution on August 19, 1945.
Inkstone dated from the Nguyen dynasty
A horse statue made during the Nguyen dynasty
Penholder made during the Nguyen dynasty