Vietnamese craft – Vietnamese strokes: Vietnamese pottery is a story of a thousand years

The process of creating a pouring mould of Bat Trang ceramics.

Vietnamese ceramic identity

Right after escaping from the Northern domination period, the history of Vietnamese pottery has shaped its own identity, getting rid of the influence of Han, Luc Trieu, and Tang ceramics… with the birth of brown flower pottery in the Ly dynasty (1009 – 1225) with the creation of a new generation of ceramics, shape, medicine, different spirit. Through successive dynasties such as Tran (1225 – 1400), Le So (1428 – 1527), Mac (1527 – 1592), and Le Trung Hung (1533 – 1789) … Vietnamese ceramics each period has its characteristics.

Collector of Vietnamese antiques and antiques Truong Viet Anh commented: “The ceramics of the Ly Dynasty from brown or ivory glaze have extremely sophisticated shapes and decorative details. Going to Tran ceramics, the lines are more substantial and rougher. In short, this is the development stage of blue-flowered ceramics, an ancient Vietnamese pottery line that has the opportunity to export to the world, and processing techniques have also developed when using painting techniques in ceramic decoration. During the Mac dynasty, Vietnamese pottery was distinguished by the line of worship items during the Le Trung Hung period. Also, for the first time in the history of Vietnamese ceramics, the element of artisans was recognized, and potters were honoured in works such as Bui Thi Do, Bui Hue, Nguyen Phong Lai, Hoang Nguu … especially Dang Huyen Thong with worship works such as lampstands, incense burners, worship towers … “.

From the Nguyen Dynasty onwards, the quintessence of Vietnamese ceramics gradually faded because of the need for imported porcelain from the rulers and merchants, signed porcelain, commercial porcelain was formed, and indigenous pottery slowly dwindled. The famous kilns in Bat Trang, Phu Lang, Huong Canh, and Tho Ha … only serve the prevalent class and spread less vigorously in the market.

In a Vietnamese folklore, the sizeable ceramic vase of Thanh Le is the legend of Vinh returning to the ancestors.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Southern ceramics, such as Cay Mai, Lai Thieu, and Bien Hoa … caught up with the market, and Vietnamese ceramics prospered again. Mr Nguyen Huu Phuc, Chairman of the Antiquities Club (Thuan An, Binh Duong), said: “Cay Mai Pottery in Saigon – Cho Lon area is strong in worship items, used for Chinese temples and shrines. When the Cay Mai kiln was dissolved, potters returned to Lai Thieu to open their kilns with styles of Quang pottery, Trieu Chau pottery and Fujian pottery. In 1902, Bien Hoa Ba Art School was established, there was a ceramic training committee, and in 1922, Bien Hoa pottery appeared in exhibitions at the Marseille Fair, then 1925, 1932 Paris International Fairs…”.

Bien Hoa pottery conquered the European market, and Cay Mai pottery serves the needs of the Chinese community; Lai Thieu pottery has a large market in the Southern region and neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. The Philippines. The writer has met many Lai Thieu ceramic artefacts dating back to the 1960s, now sold in large antique markets around Manila, such as Phil Trade Hall, Pasay City or Antiques Village, Pasig City. The capital Jakarta has a Margaguna market … also appear many Lai Thieu ceramics coloured enamel from Tieu kiln in the 1960s. The identity, identity, and market influence have partly brought pottery back to its heyday.

At this stage, in addition to the element of craftsmanship, pottery making gradually shaped the names of artisans associated with products and works such as Ngo Khon, Lam Dao Xuong … (Lai Thieu pottery), Thai Van Ngon, Duy Liem … (Thanh Le pottery), Bay Van, Ut No… (Bien Hoa pottery)…

Thanh Le pottery lesson

Through many ups and downs, the “Vietnamese ceramic identity” later faded in world ceramics. Especially after the 1970s, Vietnamese pottery almost stood still.

Later, the traditional pottery villages gradually recovered but followed the tastes. Patterns are widely copied, craft villages focus on quantity and orders rather than identity, and potters lack independence and creativity. The combination of pottery creators and craft villages is low, and suitable compositions without a place to practice samples also limit the development of Vietnamese pottery.

The technique of glaze etching and bronze-green blooms is typical of Bien Hoa pottery.

The success of Thanh Le pottery in the 1960s – 1970s is a lesson in inheriting and promoting the strengths of Vietnamese pottery.

Coming from a lacquer workshop in 1943 in Binh Duong, in the 1960s, Thanh Le invaded ceramics. In Binh Duong and Lai Thieu at that time, pottery was the domination of the Chinese with countless famous kilns such as Quang Hoa Xuong, Thai Xuong Hoa, Duyet An, Hung Loi, Dao Xuong, Vinh Phat, Huong Thanh, and Quang Hiep. Hung, Van Hoa, Nhu Hop… Opening a Vietnamese pottery kiln to compete is an extreme risk, having never had experience making pottery.

To occupy market share in South and Southeast Asian countries, Thanh Le gathered the masters of pottery in Lai Thieu, Binh Duong, and Bien Hoa to create a large-sized body shape, from 0 to 0 in height. ,8 – 1.1 m. In terms of design from the very beginning, we have seen the difference in Thanh Le pottery when most of Lai Thieu ceramics are household products, small in size.

Thanh Le’s pottery making is also different from super masters. Rotating pottery with Bay Van – the king of Bien Hoa pottery rotation, creating reliefs on crockery with Ut No, modelling by famous painters such as Duy Liem, Thai Van Ngon, and Ng. Highland… Each product goes through strict stages; when opening the oven door, if there is a mistake in even one detail, Thanh Le orders to destroy it, keeping only perfect products.

Mr Tu Phap, manager of Thanh Le pottery kiln factory in the 1960s, said: “Mr Le was very meticulous, made 100 ceramic elephant pedestals, finished firing, checked the furnace for errors, and smashed all 80 of them. The first batch of blue-and-white ceramics, more than 100 daisies, were burned and burned, and due to inexperience, he ordered them to be destroyed. When I finished ceramic products when brought to Saigon, my daily salary was 10 dongs, and the cheapest pottery sold for 300 dongs.”

Lai Thieu ceramics decorate themes with imported classics such as Bat Tien over the sea, Truc Lam losing sage, To Vu herding goats…, Thanh Le replaced by Bach Dang Giang, Trung Vuong punished Han, Ngoc Hoi Dong Da battle, picture Photo of ephemeral – haemorrhoids replaced by apricot flowers – haemorrhoids. The story of Vietnameseization becomes simple, look at the product and immediately identify its origin in Vietnam.

Thanh Le very much focuses on the element of identity and technique, so consumers accept it even at high prices because of the value of the story behind each ceramic item. Thanh Le Pottery continues the success of the lacquer factory, exporting all over the world. Until now, Thanh Le pottery artefacts, although only classified as antiques, are of exceptionally high value compared to ceramics of the same age.

Developing creative ceramics

In the 1990s, ceramic artists brought a new wind with Chi pottery [artist Nguyen Van Chi, 1940 – 2011], Doan pottery [artist Nguyen Trong Doan], Toan pottery [artist Nguyen Bao Toan]… with new approaches to Vietnamese ceramics, going beyond products and craft villages to stand out as independent works. Many well-known artists in other fields, such as visual arts, painting, and sculpture… also changed their direction to ceramic creation, creating excitement for the craft and Vietnamese ceramic art.