Collector in Nghe An with a set of antiques certified by Vietnam Record
(Baonghean.vn) - After more than 30 years of collecting and preserving over 5,000 ancient artifacts of various types and materials, collector Tran Thai Binh (Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city) has been recognized and honored by the Vietnam Record Organization for the value of the content of the Vietnam Record.
Passion and wonder
The ceremony to award the record to collector Tran Thai Binh was recently held by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Record Holders Association - Vietnam Record Organization in early January 2024 and on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the association's founding.
In the content of honoring the value of Vietnam Record, in addition to recognizing his 30-year journey of collecting, it also highly appreciated his great contribution in "participating in displaying thematic topics and donating many artifacts to the locality; contributing to preserving and promoting the value of Vietnam's cultural heritage".
“Before, I only collected for my own passion. But to complete the dossier and prove it to the organizing committee was very difficult.
I feel like I'm a small student, trying to meet the requirements of a professor or doctor.
Across the country, there are many people who have been collecting artifacts longer than me, in larger quantities than me, and with higher economic value. However, I think my collection is recognized for its uniqueness, rarity, and strangeness.”
Mr. Tran Thai Binh is a freelance antique collector and a member of the Song Lam Antiques Association (under the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association). Before being honored with the Vietnam Record, his antiques collection was surveyed and confirmed by Nghe An Museum. Among them, there are many collections with historical, scientific and aesthetic values.
It is a collection of ancient statues with 120 ancient statues, made of gold, jade, bronze, sandstone, wood, and ceramic, dating from 100 to 1,000 years old.
Valuable, in this list there are many statues of high artistic value such as the 500-year-old gold-plated jade Guanyin statue; the 200-year-old red-lacquered and gold-plated Amitabha Buddha statue; the 80kg sandstone statue of the god Siva, dating from the 11th century; a collection of ancient bells and gongs with 151 bronze artifacts originating from Vietnam, Champa, and Laos dating from 100 to 300 years, including many rare bells such as the 70kg ancient Champa bell, musical instruments from the Eastern Han Dynasty (nearly 2,000 years old).
IncollectionCollector Tran Thai Binh also has a collection of ancient bronze bowls and pots of Han and Vietnamese origin, dating back 100 - 2,500 years; a collection of bronze jewelry and weapons with 519 artifacts including bracelets, gloves, foot covers, earrings, bronze mirrors, hairpins, bronze drums, daggers, bronze axes dating back 200 - 2,000 years; a collection of Stone Age artifacts, a ceramic collection with 2,800 artifacts dating back 100 - 2,000 years.
Talking about his collection, Mr. Tran Thai Binh said: “Many people have asked me the value of the collection and I myself cannot put a price on it. To me, it is priceless because it has been with me on my journey of half my life. There areantiquityI had to sell many of my family's assets to buy it, but there were also antiques that came to me by fate"...
Contribute to preserving the core of "Nghe An culture cradle"
Collector Tran Thai Binh was born in 1973 and started collecting artifacts out of love, completely by accident. After nearly 30 years of collecting, although he did not study much in this field, many people with the same passion respect him and consider him an “appraiser”, because of his rich knowledge and ability to make accurate assessments.
Mr. Binh himself said: Whoever comes to this careercollect antiqueshave also encountered failure or have at least once bought fake goods, counterfeit goods. Personally, he has also encountered this situation many times.
However, from his passion for artifacts, he studied the fields of culture, science, and history. More importantly, he learned from practical trips to many lands with local people.
Coming to the profession of collecting antiques and having thousands of valuable artifacts, Mr. Binh said that “doing business” is not difficult. But for collectors who have to put their “heart” first, selling an antique that they have painstakingly collected is like “cutting out a piece of their intestines”.
That is also the reason why he participated in confirming the Vietnam Record, because this is a "channel" to record the value of the collection. Moreover, it is also a way for him to promote and introduce his collection to those who share the same passion and spread cultural heritage.
Over the years, as a member of the Song Lam Antiques Association, collector Tran Thai Binh and those who share the same passion in the association have also had many meaningful activities to spread cultural values such as participating in exhibitions and donating some antiques to Nghe An Museum and some relics in the area.
He has also received many Certificates of Merit from the Department of Culture and Sports, the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, and the Nghe An Museum.
I think I have to be more responsible for this award. Nghe An in particular and Nghe Tinh in general are the "cradle of antiquities" of the whole country.
Therefore, I hope that, with the artifacts I have collected, many people will know about the "cultural cradle" of Nghe An and join hands to preserve, promote and maintain it.