Decorations might include images of Vietnam’s landscape or poems written in Nôm or in Han script composed by Vietnamese poets such as Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu, King Thiệu Trị, King Tự Đức, mandarins Đào Duy Từ or Trần Nguyễn Đán, etc.

ĐSKK were marked with the symbols corresponding to Vietnamese kings. Typical Chinese motifs were replaced by Vietnamese ones. Exported to Vietnam, these porcelain objects were not sold in China.

Vietnamese courts commissioned porcelain from both state kilns and common people’s kilns in Jiangxi and Guangdong from the late 17^th to early 20^th centuries. Vietnamese ambassadors to the Chinese court were the first to commission these porcelains. Later, wealthy merchant also commissioned this kind of porcelain in China.

Over 300 years, ĐSKK were sought out by collectors and antique-lovers who recognized its cultural, aesthetic and monetary value. These porcelains are displayed in many museums and held in collections both in and outside Vietnam.

Huế Royal Antiquities Museum has preserved over 2,000 objects of ĐSKK, mainly dating from the Nguyễn era. The rarest and most valuable ĐSKK dates back to the Lê - Trịnh era. These ĐSKK were commissioned by Lê - Trịnh court in Đàng Ngoài (Outer Region). Due to the ravages of time and history, most of these objects have been lost or broken.

Luckily, some collectors in Vietnam have managed to preserve some rare objects of ĐSKK from the Lê - Trịnh era.

On the occasion of the 2018 Huế Festival, Huế Royal Antiquities Museum has invited two antique collestor from Hà Nội - Nguyễn Công Tuấn and Ngô Văn Trường, and one collector Nguyễn Hữu Hoàng from Huế City, to participate in an exhibition titled “Đồ sứ ký kiểu: Chinese porcelains made for Vietnamese courts in the Lê - Trịnh, the Nguyễn lords and the Nguyễn eras”.

This will be the first time in Vietnam has introduced such fine ĐSKK made over a period of three centuries: the Lê - Trịnh era, the Nguyễn lords era and the Nguyễn era to the public.

Visitors can admire over 70 valuable objects, including 30 rare items from the Lê - Trịnh Dynasty and exquisite porcelain bowls from the Nguyễn lords era. Also included are porcelain bowls made during the reigns of Gia Long, Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, Tự Đức, and Khải Định.

Used by the Nguyễn kings during their lifetimes, these ĐSKK have been displayed in palaces and shrines throughout the Huế Imperial City for centuries.

Everyone is welcome to Long An Palace locates inside Huế Royal Antiquities Museum to celebrate the 2018 Huế Festival, a wonderful chance to discover Huế’s illustrious history.