“All treasures that will be auctioned this time were evaluated by leading experts and we completed all necessary juridical and scientific dossiers granted by competent institutions to guarantee the quality and legality of those treasures,” said Quan Van Minh, chairman of the No.5 National Auction JSC at a press conference yesterday.
Three unique antiquities on the block include a 2,000-year-old bronze vessel of the Đông Sơn culture; a ceramic jar with brown patterns from the Tran dynasty (13th century), and an enamel box of the royal family from the Nguyen dynasty (mid-19th century). The latter is a treasure of the Hue Imperial Court, which was used to contain offerings to the Kings and members of the Nguyen royal family. The above antiquities, which were owned by a collector in Hai Phong Province, were evaluated by specialized institutions and leading experts to determine their originality and value.
According to Minh, Vietnamese and international collectors can buy those three antiquities, but the bronze Dong Son vessel, which has an initial price of US$43,769, cannot be allowed to leave Vietnam.
Bui Van Liem, Deputy Director of the Institute of Archaeology, explained that it was a rare antiquity and very intact, possibly one of the largest bronze vessels of Đông Sơn culture and never seen in museums or private collection before.
In addition to those antiquities, a jewelery set of two star ruby gemstones exploited in Yen Bai Province will also be auctioned. Their initial price is set at US$74,770 . Organisers said that star ruby is one of the rarest gemstones in the world. Due to excessive exploitation, the gemstone resource seems to be depleted and is now only found in a few countries.Five gold-plated bronze statues of 13th-century General Tran Quoc Tuan, created by artisan Le Ba Chung from Kieu Kỵ village, will also be auctioned. Kieu Ky Village in the Gia Lam District of Hanoi is well-known for its gold-leaf making over the last 300 years and is also the only village in Việt Nam adept at this craft. A skilled craftsman can use 3.75 grammes of gold to make a sheet of gold covering one square metre. This marks the first time products from this village are auctioned.
“Through the auction, we hope to be able to promote our village better and to gain more economic benefits for our artisans”, said Phung Dac Quan, Deputy Chairman of the People’s Committee of Kieu Ki commune.The Aug. 19 auction will be held at Hanoi Hotel on Giang Vo Road at 8pm. It will be open to the public and domestic and international collectors.
