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happiness. “I was offered VND10 mil-
lion, but I did not sell it,” he said.
Despite his healthily stocked stall,
Thang says he is not a collector. He
just sells what his wife’s great grand-
father left to them. Moreover, Thang
does not have a deep understanding
of each item. There are many sellers
like Thang here at the market, such as
Thom, whose husband – a collector –
has passed away. She is now selling
part of his collection, including many
old gemstone bracelets and necklaces.
Like Thang, she knows little about
the items she is selling. As a result, she
asks those who are more experienced,
such as her neighbouring stall-holder,
Nguyen Truong Khanh.
74 year old Khanh owns the most
valuable items in the fair. He says his
desire for antiques is inherited from his
father and he started to collect antiques
when he was 17 years old.
Each of his items costs at least sev-
eral million dong. His house contains
hundreds of precious things, including
a bronze pot dating from the 17th cen-
tury and a broken ceramic tray from the
Kangxi dinasty. He has been offered
a very high price for the pot, but still
he has not sold it. “I just bring several
items to the market because most peo-
ple who truly want to buy usually like a
secret transaction,” he says.
On his invitation, I visited Khanh’s
house and it is no exaggeration to
say that antiques are the heart and
soul of his home. The living space is
very small in comparison to the space
he gives over to his items. Items that
stand out include an 80cm long dug-
out canoe made of a sophisticatedly
carved ebony; gemstone paintings
which sparkle in the sunlight; cicada
shaped urns for burning aloe wood;
and worshiping vases sculpted with
fish, shrimps and turtles.
For Khanh, the Saturday market is
an ideal means of transferring cultural
meaning to young collectors as well as
exchanging experience.
He believes it is becoming harder
to find true antiques: “Examination de-
pends mostly on experience. Not many
people can evaluate an antique, so peo-
ple are afraid of being cheated with
counterfeit items.” He himself has not
found anything to add to his collection
for some time.
Khanh is yet to sell an item from his
stall, but he still sets up every Saturday,
just to display his collection. For him,
antiques are not just items to buy and
sell, they act as a bridge from the past
to present.
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