Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Silversmith Quach Phan Tuan Anh from Dinh Cong Ward donated a set of silver carving tools to the Ha Noi Museum with aim of promoting the traditional handicraft which was passed down from his grandfather to his father.
These devices have been used in silver carving in his family for a century. His father Quach Van Truong, 86, told him many times to promote and preserve the traditional handicraft.
“Donating these objects to the museum, I expect that many people will understand more about silver carving and the history of the trade in Dinh Cong Village (now Dinh Cong Ward),” said Anh.
The set of silver carving utensils is one of more than 1,000 artefacts and documents which individuals and organisations have recently donated to the Ha Noi Museum for exhibition and research.
The objects feature the religious beliefs and lives of Hanoians in the early 20th century, during the resistance war and the subsidy period, said museum director Nguyen Tien Da.
In particular, a number of artefacts feature craft villages and the traditional professions of ancient Hanoians.
"All of the artefacts and documents that the museum has received during this time hold cultural and spiritual value, demonstrating the development of Ha Noi through historical periods," Da said.
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| Traditional tastes: Ganh pho in a documentary photo stored by the Ha Noi Musem. A similar mobile kitchen has been donated to the Ha Noi Museum. |
Among the objects, there are hand-written letters, wedding photos taken in the 20th century and Bat Trang pottery.
Pho seller Vu Ngoc Vuong donated a ganh pho-- a mobile kitchen of roaming street vendors selling noodle soup—to remind museum-goers of the past when pho was sold on shoulders of vendors. This mobile kitchen has been used in his family for many years.
A visit to the museum will be the first opportunity many young people will have to see how pho was cooked and sold in an old-style mobile kitchen. From the pole hung two wooden cabinets, one housing a cauldron over a wood fire, the other storing noodles, spices, cookware and space to prepare a bowl of pho. The heavy ganh was always shouldered by men.
“By the 1930s, ganh pho — roaming vendors shouldering mobile kitchens on bamboo poles — had become a ubiquitous sight on the streets of the Old Quarter,” said Da.
He noted that there are artefacts and antiques that organisations and individuals have carefully preserved for many years, over generations, which play a crucial role in the operation of the Ha Noi Museum.
Da also expressed his gratitude to the donors, affirming that the donated artefacts are suitable for the museum’s exhibition plans for 2019.
Da called on individuals and organisations at both home and abroad to continue to donate documents and artefacts to the museum. — VNS