"Gia Long Nien Tao"

By Professor Thomas Ulbrich S. Korea

Gia Long Nien Tao

See mark beside the vessel.                                                        

Poem 1                                                            Poem 2:

Translation: Old and young (in ancient times and nowadays) altogether shall respect

the Honourable. (People) near and far (everywhere) praise the wise.

Two characters:   (from left to right show )   ‘Long Life - panel/board’

 The sides are painted with a Jumping carp fish, symbol of success of a young (!) person

(applied for boys, adolescents, young officers or officials for wishing fruitful development at examinations etc.)

Carp   Emblem of longevity, for it lives many years, and of wealth, abundance and perseverance.

The Carp is thus used as a symbol of scholarly successes.

Mark on base in a single thick painted circle:

Gia Long niên tạo  (Vietnamese.)

Jia Long nian zao (chin. Pinyin)

Made during the Gia Long reign, that is between 1802 and 1819. This mark is written on the base in cobalt blue. Very likely after 1804.

Chinese export blue& white porcelain made on order by Vietnam (or for a special, perhaps diplomatic purpose by the Chinese side)

to honor the first emperor (nian hao) Gia Long  of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Mark on base reading (pinyin) Jia Long nian zao (or vn.: Gia Long niên tạo)

Chinese made blue&white porcelain tea – pot/-kettle or -ewer in a conical (seal?) shape.

Made on order by Vietnam (official order) or –more likely- ordered in China by a Vietnamese

 individual during Gia Long emperor’s reign 1804-1820.

Two pieces are known: In the Museum of Fine Arts , Hanoi (exhibited) –

the other in the collection of Mr. Pham Hy Tung, Saigon.

Can be classified as very rare as only two pieces currently seem to exist in Vietnam.

Historical background: When the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945) was founded in Hue (City in central Vietnam) its first emperor, king GIA LONG, began building his newly chosen capital and a new palace - far south from Hanoi, the former capital city (name Thang Long) which had been looted previously. Therefore he did not order porcelains officially from China in the beginning. His new palaces were not built yet. The number of ordered porcelains from China during his reign (1802-1820) was small. The Hue Acquisition Office (in the palace) hat prompted the majority of orders for decorative porcelains from European importers, such as Spode Co. (from Stoke-on-Trent, Britain). 

When the new ruler finally was officially established by the Chinese Emperor Jiaqing as the new king of Vietnam (Annam) –after repeated negotiations with Beijing - in 1804, the Chinese side brought not only the new official gilded silver state seal from Guangzhou to Vietnam but also some  presents. We can only speculate and it is not recorded if this porcelain ewer was among the presents given from the Chinese delegate’s side or if it was ordered and given as a private token of respect or veneration by someone close to the court. So we have no decisive clue yet, whether it was an official ‘present’ from the Chinese side to the new king or given by his entourage (the mandarins or someone who wanted to do a favour to the king).

However the porcelain itself and the quality of the pictorial drawing (in underglaze cobalt blue) is not high, and very likely not originated from the imperial or any other kiln in Jingdezhen, but more likely from a kiln located in the adjacent Yunnan province… Whatsoever the source is…. it is a Chinese made blue&white porcelain tea pot with jumping carp design and 2 Chinese poems,  and  there is  the mark with the nian hao of the Vietnamese king:  GIA LONG of the Nguyễn dynasty. 

Jia Long nian zao             

Made during the Jia Long reign

(vn.: Gia Long niên tạo)

Vietnamese king, 1802-1820)