Indigo-ground Vessel ~ Lotus Pattern ~ (Brush by Ho)

Strolling through the Old Quarter of Hanoi. I wandered into a shop with shelves built along the sidewalk wall, displaying pottery. At first I had no intention of buying anything... A record of my search for tableware in Hanoi's Old Quarter.

I got so excited at night that I went out walking around again, found the shop, and bought it. It's a large plate, 36cm across. (It's bigger than a shaku-plate, and honestly it does have a crack and a chipped part...) I bought it for 200,000 VND, which is about 1,000 yen (thank you, my husband Sei!!!). This is from a nameless pottery shop tucked away in a corner of Hanoi's Old Quarter, Vietnam. The owner is a small elderly grandmother who isn't very pushy about selling. It was quite a hassle to find this place — it's a roadside pottery shop at the end of Duong Gia Ngu street.

Around here, you'll see shelves set up against a building's wall—right on a corner of the sidewalk—with dishes lined up in a long row. It's the kind of scene you often find at open-air stalls, but the selection really hit the spot for me, so somehow I ended up snapping a photo of it. Common Bat Trang pottery is casually piled up, and there's a nice variety of small dishes, cups, and teapots.

It's covered in dust, and while the types are sorted at least, the display is pretty haphazard. There are some quite unique vessels in the back too — the more you look, the more interesting it gets.

Looking closely, you can see various kinds of Bat Trang pottery on display. It's not the trendy pastel-colored Bat Trang pottery, but an orthodox design. Vermilion, indigo, pale green, and patterns of dragonflies, flowers, and fish are hand-painted on them. I've always loved tableware and had brought some with me from Japan, so I was trying not to increase my collection.

I thought this trivet was cute too, you know~. But I already have plenty of similar ones at home... I thought. Still, my heart wavered a bit thinking the Đông Hồ woodblock print trivet was rather rare~, but I held back, held back. Lying down, I filmed with my iPhone, zzzt~~ So many dishes~ zzzzt~~~~ I've never seen dishes like these before~ zzzzt~~~~ zzzt~!!

Huh?! That big bowl in the back looks kind of cute! It has a lotus pattern, and it's indigo blue too... I can't stop thinking about it... I can't stop thinking about it... I can't sleep. So, the next morning, I talked it over with my husband Sei. Or rather, I negotiated with him. Me, the wife (Ho): "There's a bowl I'm really curious about. It's an indigo blue large plate, with a beautiful lotus design I've never seen before. But I've only seen it in a photo, so I don't know what the real thing is like. If the texture and coloring feel good when I hold it, I want it~ Can I buy it?" I said, showing him the photo. Sei “You even looked all the way to the back of the shelf, haha... That one's lovely, isn't it? Do you know where the shop is? Let's go take a look and think it over.” However, since we didn't really intend to buy anything too expensive, the two of us also talked about the price. We decided we wouldn't buy anything over 200,000 VND. So we walked through the old town under the blazing sun, tracing back the threads of memory. Even while making full use of Google Maps, we ended up going back and forth around the same block about twice before we finally found it.

There were some worrying cracks and chips, but as the old lady said, "Because of this crack, it's 200,000 dong instead of 500,000 dong..." I liked the carved-looking, slightly rough texture, so I made peace with the chips as they were. It was within budget, so I decided to buy it. Is it Bat Trang ware? What era is it from? Who made it? All of that is unknown. It's a nameless piece from a nameless shop, but I'm very happy to have found something I liked. I'm already excited thinking about what ingredients and dishes I'll put on it! Expat Life Ranking