A collection of ancient Vietnamese lamps, with the theme "Light for all people", is on display at the Saint Joseph Seminary at No.6 Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1, HCMC. This collection began in 1863. The exhibition will be open every weekend until January 6, 2019 from 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Entry is free. |
The lamps belong to Father Nguyen Huu Triet and 10 other collectors from all around the country. They are in various shapes and sizes and made from a variety of materials such as terracotta, copper, ceramic, wood, iron, and glass. |
The majority of the lamps originated in Vietnam, with some dating back to ancient times. The oldest in the collection is a terracotta lamp from the 5th century BC belonging to the Dong Son, a bronze age culture that lasted from 1000 BC to the 1st century AD on the banks of the Red River in northern Vietnam. This was an early stage of lamp making, when people started to learn how to use clay to make everyday tools. |
In the Dong Son Culture, the ancient Vietnamese used copper and iron to make objects like drums, jars, weapons, and jewelry and bronze to make lamps. Each lamp has a different shape and size, some only the size of a finger but still crafted intricately. |
A ceramic lamp made during the 13th - 14th centuries, a period that represented the apotheosis of cultural development in ancient Vietnam. |
These are lamps made during the Le Dynasty era in the 16th-17th centuries. Hien, a visitor, said: "I'm from Dong Nai (a southern province). I came to Saigon to visit the Seminary and then just happened to find this exhibition. I only learnt now that Vietnamese people have been making lamps for hundreds of years before the Common Era." |
A large ceramic lampstand, nearly 1m tall, made during the Le Dynasty period, is displayed in its own cabinet. |
An iron lamp made by artists in Hue during the 19th century. It features two dragons and a phoenix. |
An English visitor at the exhibition. Most of the lamps at the exhibition were made between the late 19th century and the end of the 20th century in villages known for their ceramic traditions such as Bat Trang (Hanoi) and Lai Thieu (southern Binh Duong Province). |
A Champa copper lamp, made in the 13th - 18th centuries. There are also lamps from other cultures that existed in the southern part of ancient Vietnam, such as Khmer, Sa Huynh and Oc Eo. |
Among the lamps are some that originated in faraway places like France, India, Germany in the 19th - 20th centuries. These giant Indian iron lamps weigh nearly 10 kg each. |