Colorful world
“Oil lamps have a whole world of materials, designs, styles...” - collector Do Quyen, Chairman of the Antiquities Association of An Giang province, shared.
She surprised me with the object that I was attached to throughout my long childhood. In my not-so-distant memory, a 6X generation Southerner, an oil lamp was just a glass tool that used kerosene through a wick to emit light every night. Therefore, I was very surprised when I visited a corner of Mrs. Quyen's lamp collection. There were lamps made from terracotta, ceramics, glass, metal... and lamps that combined many materials together.
Even with glass materials, there are both transparent glass and colored glass with green - blue - indigo - purple... Then there are lamps with and without a flame protection against the effects of the weather outside... Lamps designed to be hung permanently on the wall, lamps hung on boats, canoes, lamps used to keep the fire on the family altar... Then there are lamps burned with oil made from peanuts, fish fat... of the past until lamps burned with kerosene developed in the early 20th century.
Each type of lamp has its own style and design according to the aesthetic taste and convenience of each historical period and target audience. Therefore, it is difficult to judge which period's oil lamp or which material is better or worse. Because whether ancient or modern, whether shiny or rough with the color of time, all oil lamps have the same thing in common: enriching and diversifying the life of the means used to serve the life and activities of our ancestors from the dear old days.
Sparkling name
The interesting surprise seemed to escalate when discovering the names of oil lamps. There are duck egg lamps, chong lamps, hurricane lamps... and American lamps. Duck egg lamps are the name used to call oil lamps with a bulb (material used to protect the flame from the wind) that is round like a duck egg. And hurricane lamps have a protective part that can keep the flame inside from the impact of storms...
Moreover, the name of the oil lamp is also called according to the production area. For example, Lai Thieu ceramic lamp (Binh Duong) is produced by famous ceramic processing kilns in Lai Thieu. Or Bien Hoa ceramic lamp (Dong Nai) is produced by famous ceramic processing kilns in Bien Hoa. The name of the lamp is even associated with the facility, the name of the owner of the facility such as: Thanh Le ceramic lamp (Southern region) produced by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Le's facility; Nam Thai oil lamp (Hanoi) produced by Mr. Nam Thai's facility...
The name of the American lamp (in the South, it is mispronounced as Hue Ky due to the "taboo" of Mrs. Ho Thi Hoa, aka Queen Ta Thien Nhan, wife of King Minh Mang) is a fascinating proof of the brilliance of the name of the oil lamp. Like many other items made from iron imported from the West, the American lamp was developed in the early 20th century and was once considered an outstanding achievement of Vietnamese oil lamps made from terracotta and glass materials before... Therefore, when it was first introduced, the American lamp quickly became a subject for literature and art:
“American lamp white chimney, green oil tank;
"A husband who is away from his wife will die five or seven times in one watch"...
(folk song)
However, the explanation of the origin of this name is a topic that attracts the attention of many people... There is an opinion that the American lamp originated from... America. But recently, many reliable sources of documents show that the American lamp was produced by the Vietnamese. According to many "veterans" in the lamp collecting profession, around the 1930s, after launching a kerosene sales campaign in Vietnam, to increase competitiveness with earlier competitors, American oil companies implemented a promotional method by giving away oil lamps to oil buyers. And among the iron oil lamp manufacturers at that time in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Hoa Ky store located on Jules Ferry Street (today's Hang Trong Street) was chosen. Perhaps the foreign pronunciation without accents put a new coat on the old name, so Hoa Ky became Hoa Ky? According to this historical document, the American lamp is a Vietnamese lamp made from iron imported from France, purchased by the American oil company as a gift to customers.
Not just the light of memory
For many Vietnamese people of the 60s and earlier generations, oil lamps are an indispensable part of life. Because they are not only the center of light when night falls, but also an indispensable object in worship, ceremonies, offerings, weddings, funerals, death anniversaries... In other words, oil lamps become indispensable friends and are attached to people until the last day of their lives: "Living with oil lamps, dying with drums and trumpets".
And so, although today, oil lamps have gradually receded into the veil of time, for those who study culture and history... they are the light of memories. According to Ms. Quyen, from the actual exchange in the antique world, it shows that oil lamps are also a vestige that takes us back to the past and helps us feel the ups and downs of human fate in the face of life's changes.
“Our ancestors were very clever in leaving marks on the oil lamp as a smart signal. It is both to protect copyright and as a sign to find the dear old days” - Ms. Quyen commented. A typical example is the Nam Thai oil lamp. By embossing the year of production and its own symbol on the body, it not only marks the affirmation of intellectual property for itself, but also serves as a source of information for researchers to learn about the manufacturing technique, as well as part of the life of the people at that time...
However, with the progress of society, electric light has gradually replaced oil lamps. Oil lamps quickly became worthless objects and were left on the sidelines of family life. Meanwhile, compared to ceramic artifacts, cars..., oil lamps were of interest to antique collectors quite late. According to many "veterans" of the antique collectors, it was not until 1997 that the oil lamp hobby in Vietnam began to take off in Saigon, then gradually spread to other localities, but the speed was not strong and widespread. There are many reasons for this situation, such as the oil lamps being fragile and easily broken..., but basically it is because the hobby requires a very unique level of sophistication and understanding.
“To find interest and stick with oil lamps for a long time, players must have extensive knowledge,” Ms. Quyen shared. It is knowledge to recognize the generation and style of each lamp line so that they can “assemble” many old separate parts into “new complete works.”
Especially in recent years, when the oil lamp hobby movement has been booming, players have also had to bear the burden of price. Due to being started late, the old oil lamp artifacts have gradually reached the limit and most of them are no longer intact... Therefore, a life command has been sounded to quickly launch a movement to collect, preserve and conserve oil lamps before it is too late. Because it is not only a place to preserve a part of the old memories, but also a cultural and historical marker for the next generation to find a corner of the ancestors' life.
