HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese antiquities and art treasures with great historical and cultural value will be auctioned on August 19 in Hà Nội, marking the first time a professional auction company is authorised by the city’s People’s Committee to sell the country’s antiquities.

“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  Quản Văn 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 Trần dynasty (13th century), and an enamel box of the royal family from the Nguyễn dynasty (mid-19th century). The latter is a treasure of the Huế Imperial Court, which was used to contain offerings to the Kings and members of the Nguyễn royal family.

The above antiquities, which were owned by a collector in Hải Phòng Province, were evaluated by specialized institutions and leading experts to determine their originality and value.

Minh said Vietnamese and international collectors can buy those three antiquities, but the bronze Đông Sơn vessel, which has an initial price of VND995.450.000 (US$43,769), cannot be allowed to leave Việt Nam.

Bùi Văn Liêm, 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 Yên Bái Province will also be auctioned. Their initial price is set at VNĐ1.7 billion (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 Trần Quốc Tuấn, created by artisan Lê Bá Chung from Kiêu Kỵ village, will also be auctioned.

Kiêu Kỵ Village in the Gia Lâm District of Hà Nội 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 Phùng Đắc Quản, Deputy Chairman of the People’s Committee of Kiêu Kị commune.— VNS

The Aug. 19 auction will be held at Hanoi Hotel on Giảng Võ Road at 8pm. It will be open to the public and domestic and international collectors.