From young pauper to the king of antiques ? TalkVietnam

House of treasures: A corner of Toan's little museum, which is located on the first floor of his house. ? VNS Photo Phan Sang

by Phan Sang

Entering Vo Van Toan?s house in Hung Dung Ward in the central province of Nghe An, it?s hard not to be struck by the plethora of ancient items, mainly porcelains, displayed on the first floor.

Many of these antiques are precious both in terms of economic and cultural value, like the pottery vase and jar from Ly dynasty (1009-1225) and the stone items from the Bronze Age that may be up to thousands of years old.

Driven by his passion for ancient items, over the past 28 years Vo Van Toan has accumulated one of the richest collections in Viet Nam ? earning the collector the title ?King of Antiques?.

Born in 1966 into a poor family in Quynh Ba Commune, Quynh Luu District in Nghe An, Toan did not have the happiest childhood. His father passed away when he was still in seventh-grade, so he had to work several jobs while attending school just to scrape by.

One day, people from the neighbouring province of Thanh Hoa came to rural areas in Quynh Luu to seek for antiques. Toan agreed to work as their guide, finding families who wanted to sell antiques and contacting potential customers.

That was when Toan?s passion for antiques started to take shape. He spent all the money he saved from selling fish and firewood to buy ancient objects. While attending high school in Ha Noi in the 1980s, Toan would drop into local antique stores to learn more about the history of the items. After returning to his hometown to work for a travel agent, he had the opportunity to travel to many places and meet many people with the same hobby.

However, there was a strict restriction on antique trading during that period. Toan had to go directly to the sellers in order to purchase new items. When he did so, he preserved them carefully as he would have an invaluable treasure. Afterwards, he travelled within Nghe An Province and to nearby provinces like Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh in search of antiques ? even getting as far as China.

Sometimes Toan spent all the money he had saved for months on one antique. Even broken items did not escape his notice. He simply joined the pieces back together, painstakingly and methodically.

?This hobby requires deftness, meticulousness and patience. Not everyone can take up this hobby, as first and foremost the collector has to have a strong passion for antiques and vast knowledge about the history and origin of the items as well as the ability to evaluate their values. More importantly, he has to have lots of money,? Toan confides.

Pot luck: A jar in Toan's collection thought to be thousands of years old.

He adds that he has been able to wholeheartedly pursue such a costly hobby thanks to his sympathetic wife, Phan Thi Hoa, who is also keen on antiques.

Although the journey to seek and collect the ancient items is full of challenges, Toan says, discovering one can be immensely rewarding. There is a Vietnamese saying, ?Valuable things seek people of rank?; hence, Toan tries to constantly enrich his collection, purchasing antiques that strike him no matter what the cost. The whole first floor of his house serves as a museum, displaying his vast collection.

In addition to pottery, the collection also includes coins, statues, and pots and jars of all materials like metal, porcelain, and wood. Whenever visitors drop into his house, he always enthusiastically introduces them the items that he has taken great pains to collect.

Although the items were made in different eras, they all reflect the wishes of the ancestors and the close bond between human and nature. In Toan?s opinion, antiques are valuable more for what they say about culture and history than for any financial reason.

Yet he remains concerned that many antiques, due to the widespread lack of understanding, continue to gather dust. So Toan hopes to gather more of these unique cultural relics and preserve them for posterity. ? VNS

Source: http://talkvietnam.com/2012/10/from-young-pauper-to-the-king-of-antiques/

askew blue moon eddie murphy ann romney marco rubio marco rubio farrah abraham