Vietnamese white/Qingbai/brown/celadon wares of 12th/14th Century

The origin of most if not all the above Vietnamese wares could be traced to China.  In essence, they were a continuation of the Chinese porcelain tradition of the Song and Yuan period. Hence, as a starting point,  studying the shapes and motifs/designs of the Chinese wares will be a good guide for dating.  Many of those from the 14th/15th century could be identified and confidently dated as they were exported in substantial quantities to the Southeast Asia region especially Philippines and Indonesia.

During the 12th/14th century, Vietnamese potters used two stacking methods for firing the wares.  For the first category, spurs marks could be seen on the base.  For  example, a disc with spurs is placed on the inner bottom of the first bowl.  Next another bowl is placed on the disc and the process is repeated for further stacking of other bowls. One should note that there are some without spur marks as they are those placed at the top of the stack.  The second category has an unglaze ring on the bottom of the ware.  For example, a crudely formed clay ring is placed as a separator at the unglaze area of the bowl.  Next another bowl is placed on the ring separator and the process is repeated for further stacking.  Both methods is confirmed by studying the kiln wastes consisting of stack of bowls in the Clement Huet collection.

Many of the wares have a brown coating on the other base.  However, there are also those without the brown coating.  This brown coating is said to be unique to Vietnamese wares.   Generally it is true.  But there are exception such as brown coating could also be found in some Yunnan celadon wares and Thai copy of Vietnamese iron-painted wares.  The Vietnamese ware has a whitish or light greyish paste.  This is a feature that can help in identification.

I have listed below some of the more commonly found Vietnamese wares and provide some explanations on their relationship to the Chinese counterpart.

Vietnamese wares of 12th/14th Century made mainly for domestic consumption

Export Vietnamese wares of  13th/14th Century

Vietnamese Lime-pots

Lime pots are vessels used for storage of lime paste which together with areca nut and betel leaf are the necessary ingredients to make a quid.  A spatula is used  to take the lime paste which is spread on a betel leaf.  The areca nut is then placed on the betel leaf.  The betel leaf is then folded into a neat package ie a quid.  Exchange of quid for chewing permeated all levels of the Vietnamese society.  The exchange of quid was the customary way to greet a friend, neighbour, a business partner or an official.

The earliest lime pot is of simple form, ie a round shaped pot with a hole.  Usually it has a handle shaped like a branch.  There are also those made in animal form such as an elephant with a hole on its back.  They are covered with brown or greenish glaze.  They are usually dated to pre-16th century.  From the 16th century, the handle became bigger and elaborately decorated with embossed motifs.  The most common type has green glaze covering the handle and part of the pot. There are also those covered with blue or pomegranate red glaze.