The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre on April 22 opened a new sectioninside the former Imperial Citadel to display the ambience of the queenmothers under the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945).
Thearea was used as a waiting lounge for guests who paid visits to thequeen mothers in Dien Tho Palace, part of a harem designated for queenmothers.
The items on display include a wooden rickshaw that the centre bought at an auction in France for 100,000 USD.
The rickshaw was used by Queen Mother Tu Minh, who was given it as agift by her son, King Thanh Thai, (1879-1954) for the queen to movearound inside the vast palace.
According to thecentre's deputy director Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, the rickshaw is inlaidwith mother-of-pearl. It was made by artisans at a workshop in Hanoi, hesaid.
The rickshaw was sold to a French man in 1907, together with a royal bed.
Fund for the repurchase came from a local budget, donations from royalfamily members, local businesses and residents, and oversea Vietnameseliving in France. National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and the BaoViet Insurance Company donated part of the flight and insurance costsfor the return of the vehicle.
The Ministries ofCulture, Foreign Affairs, Finance and the Vietnamese Embassy in Franceworked closely together to buy the hand-pulled, two-wheeled transport.
The centre's Director Phan Thanh Hai said the presence of the rickshaw in the palace would help draw visitors.
Some experts consider the venture as the first time that an antiqueitem has been successfully returned to Vietnam from abroad.
But others claim that the rickshaw is "unimportant to Vietnamese history".
"Bringing back an antique item of Vietnam from abroad isdelightful, certainly," researcher Ho Tan Phan said. "But many importantand precious Vietnamese items are still now in other countries”.-VNA
Thearea was used as a waiting lounge for guests who paid visits to thequeen mothers in Dien Tho Palace, part of a harem designated for queenmothers.
The items on display include a wooden rickshaw that the centre bought at an auction in France for 100,000 USD.
The rickshaw was used by Queen Mother Tu Minh, who was given it as agift by her son, King Thanh Thai, (1879-1954) for the queen to movearound inside the vast palace.
According to thecentre's deputy director Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, the rickshaw is inlaidwith mother-of-pearl. It was made by artisans at a workshop in Hanoi, hesaid.
The rickshaw was sold to a French man in 1907, together with a royal bed.
Fund for the repurchase came from a local budget, donations from royalfamily members, local businesses and residents, and oversea Vietnameseliving in France. National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and the BaoViet Insurance Company donated part of the flight and insurance costsfor the return of the vehicle.
The Ministries ofCulture, Foreign Affairs, Finance and the Vietnamese Embassy in Franceworked closely together to buy the hand-pulled, two-wheeled transport.
The centre's Director Phan Thanh Hai said the presence of the rickshaw in the palace would help draw visitors.
Some experts consider the venture as the first time that an antiqueitem has been successfully returned to Vietnam from abroad.
But others claim that the rickshaw is "unimportant to Vietnamese history".
"Bringing back an antique item of Vietnam from abroad isdelightful, certainly," researcher Ho Tan Phan said. "But many importantand precious Vietnamese items are still now in other countries”.-VNA
