Mua DDo^` Co^? Vie^.t Nam Tre^n Ebay
Vinh Dam
Vietnam coast 500 years ago
BY T.T. NHU
Mercury News
Monday, July 10, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News
FIVE HUNDRED years ago, a ship laden with porcelain and ceramics
sank during a fierce storm as it tried to enter Hoi An, a port town in
central Vietnam near Da Nang.
Now, after centuries under water, part of the recovered treasure --
believed to be worth tens of millions of dollars -- soon will be offered to
the highest bidders in person and online in what some describe as a
unique marriage of art, history and commerce.
``It's an extraordinary find which revolutionizes our understanding of
Vietnamese blue-and-white pottery,'' said John Guy, a specialist in
Southeast Asian ceramics at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
The objects will be offered as part of the ``first online art sale in
history
featuring materials of this scope, age and importance,'' said Michael Miller
of the San Francisco auction house Butterfields, which is owned by San
Jose-based online auctioneer eBay and is handling the sale.
Starting in October, tens of thousands of items are to be sold online
through eBay's Great Collections Web site (www.ebaygreat
collections.com).
The sale is expected to last up to 30 weeks, according to Jennie Prebor, a
spokeswoman for Butterfields. Other items will be sold in live auction in
San Francisco, also in October but prior to the eBay sale. Prices are
expected to range from $50 to $50,000 or more per item, Prebor said.
In an arrangement with the Vietnamese government, 10 percent of the
``one-of-a-kind'' artifacts are being sent to more than 100 museums
throughout Vietnam. An undisclosed amount from auction sales also will
be shared with the Vietnamese government, according to Ong Soo Hin,
director of Saga Horizon, the Malaysian company that organized the
salvaging of the valuable cargo.
Rumors of priceless sunken antiques near Hoi An -- once a thriving port
where 30 languages were spoken -- began to surface in 1993 when local
fishermen discovered the wreck while trawling the ocean floor with nets.
They attempted to extract the long-lost treasure in bits and pieces.
``They were very innovative -- and very destructive,'' said Ong.
Perfectly preserved
Using rakes and other instruments, the fishermen bludgeoned their way
into the ship's hold. They pulled out perfectly preserved relics -- ancient
blue-and-white ceramic dishes; exquisite blue-and-white porcelain jars and
platters painted with winged beasts, dragons and unicorns; and landscape
scenes.
The pieces quickly found their way onto the world's black market for
antiques. Others turned up in the curio shops that line the merchant
quarters of Hoi An, which recently was named a world heritage site by
UNESCO.
It wasn't until late 1999 that salvagers commissioned by the Vietnamese
government -- including state-owned Vietnam Salvage, Oxford
University's Hydro-Archaeology Center and Saga Horizon -- retrieved
what turned out to be more than 150,000 pieces.
Because of the depth -- the ship lay 223 feet below the ocean's surface --
six divers had to live in a special underwater chamber. They worked in
12-hour shifts until they had recovered most of the trove. The salvage
operation lasted about 70 days.
Guy, of the Victoria and Albert Museum, was struck by the variety of
material that emerged from the shipwreck.
``There were many, many surprises,'' he said. ``Types of ceramics we
haven't seen before. The range, quality and mix of material in a single
vessel, bound for so many different strata of society, is extraordinary.''
Dessa Goddard, director of Butterfields' Asian art department, has been
with the San Francisco auction house for 19 years, but said the sight of
such 500-year-old relics was a jolt.
``I think I cried,'' said Goddard, who added, ``This is a cargo which ties
together all sorts of elements that scholars postulated about 15th-century
Vietnamese ceramics. These are the lost pieces to a puzzle.''
Cargo's owner unknown
Analysis of the ship's wood shows that it was made of teak -- commonly
available in Thailand and Southern China, but not Vietnam. Yet it's
unknown who commissioned the cargo and sent it to its intended
destination in Indonesia sometime between 1450 and 1550.
Speculation ranges from Chinese merchants to the Cham, whose kingdom
was usurped by the Vietnamese in 1475. There is no question, however,
that Vietnamese potters created the ceramics.
Because of persistent internal and external warfare, Vietnamese ceramics
have not been preserved in large numbers. The surviving examples exist
mainly outside Vietnam in the hands of a few collectors and museums.
Said Goddard: ``The recovery of these artifacts will revolutionize
scholarship and understanding of Vietnamese ceramics, and redefine the
art-historical relationship between Vietnam and China and widen our
knowledge of 15th-century Asian trade.''
DongchiVeeVeo
>From: Vinh Dam vin...@nc.rr.com
>Date: 7/10/00 7:01 PM Pacific Daylight Time
>Message-id: <396A7FC6...@nc.rr.com>
***
Co' -do.c ba'o sa'ng nay ro^`i, bit from $50 to+'i ???? $50,000.00
Se~ try to buy one ??? :)
Ba'c kha.c -Da`m co`n so^'ng nha(n ra(ng -da^'y nhi? ??? Hmmmm nghe lu'c na`y
KC-Quan MT-HCM -dang tie^'n chie^'m thu? -do^ Ca`Mau -do' :)
VeeVeo
-----------
:))
wrote:
:Co' -do.c ba'o sa'ng nay ro^`i, bit from $50 to+'i ???? $50,000.00
:
:Se~ try to buy one ??? :)
:Ba'c kha.c -Da`m co`n so^'ng nha(n ra(ng -da^'y nhi? ??? Hmmmm nghe lu'c na`y
:KC-Quan MT-HCM -dang tie^'n chie^'m thu? -do^ Ca`Mau -do' :)
:
:VeeVeo
:-----------
Chie^'m ddu+o+.c dda?o Phu' Quo^'c ro^`i a` ?
Ba`i na`y ho^`i na~y tha^'y Vee bit ro^`i. Ba^y gio+` bit la.i ha?
;-)
ELCHINO...@hotmail.com
Ka'ch dda^y 4 na(m, Sotherby auctioned ma^'y ddo^` na`y cho Chi'nh Fu?
Vietnam. Ka'i nho? nhu+'t ku~ng 2,000 ddo^ ba(`ng gia' chie^' xe ka'c
ba.n DCC ddang sa`i.
Ne^'u mua e-bsy ma` re? e chu+`ng ddo^` zo?m!!!
In article <396A7FC6...@nc.rr.com>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
tt
ba` to^? tie^n le^n chu*?i hay sao ma` cu*' ngo.ng nghi.u kie^?u
ddang nga^.m "kon ku" cu?a hbui trong mie^.ng .
tt
-----------------------------------------------------------
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hbui
WHAT?
What about us, DCC in Little Saigon?
We are entittled to receive something too are we not?
Despite of years of subsidizing on Welfare and on Food Stamps, our stomac
still maintains intact the VNCH cultural juice. Those VC na(`m vu`ng who do
not believe that the cultural heritage from Dde^. I and Dde^. II VNCH is
still hidden in the juice of our gut have got to go to our giant cultural
events Dda.i Nha.c Ho^.i to appreciate the fact. Linh Dda Trang Dda`i has
truly personified the beautiful VNCH mother.
We should receive something too from that auctions otherwise we are going to
BIE^?U TI`NH in front of the auction house!!!!!
DongchiVeeVeo <dongch...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000710220826...@ng-fn1.aol.com...
DongchiVeeVeo
***
Vo^ trong Net -do.c ca'i list -do^` co^? na`y thi` co' va`i ca'i bo^ ba(`ng
su+' -do' Hbui a`, co' ngon bo? tie^`n ra mua 1 ca'i cho you, 1 cho Ba(`ng So`
va` 1 cho VC-Nguyenxuanphong -di em
VeeVeo
------------
>Subject: Re: Mua DDo^` Co^? Vie^.t Nam Tre^n Ebay
>From: "hbui" hbu...@email.msn.com
>Date: 7/11/00 3:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time
>Message-id: <OjTOTO46$GA.307@cpmsnbbsa07>