Exhibition offers insight in two millennia of Vietnamese ceramics

A panorama of the Vietnamese ceramics throughout over-2,000-year history will be reflected through an exhibition set to open at the Vietnam National Museum of History in Hanoi on November 19.

The poster of the exhibition (Photo: Vietnam National Museum of History)
The poster of the exhibition (Photo: Vietnam National Museum of History)

The exhibition, scheduled to last until April 2022, will feature nearly 70 outstanding objects chosen from the An Bien Collection and the Vietnam National Museum of History.

Visitors will have a chance to gain an insight in the Vietnamese ceramics in four periods: the 1st - 10th centuries, the 11th - 14th centuries, the 15th - 17th centuries, and the 18th - 19th centuries with the Bat Trang ceramics in focus.

Experts said the Vietnamese ceramics has long-standing history and plays an important role in people’s lives since the prehistoric era.

From the 10th century, ceramics production developed strongly and was critical to economic and cultural development. Ceramics became important export items in the 15th - 17th centuries, creating conditions for the production to enjoy breakthrough growth in terms of both quantity and quality.

Ceramics manufacturing centres gradually disintegrated from the 18th century. However, Bat Trang, a famous ceramics village in Hanoi's suburban Gia Lam district dating back to the 14th century, survived and has grown until today, turning itself into a “museum” of Vietnamese ceramics.