Artifacts off the coast of Hoi An in auction in USA
Nov. 1 (VNA)-- A number of artifacts discovered off the coast of Viet Nam's Hoi An old town, a commercial hub in central Viet Nam in the 14th century, have been bought by museums in the US, the UK and Australia, and overseas Vietnamese in a recent auction in the United States.
The auction, held in San Francisco and through the Internet from Oct. 11-13, sold 20 percent of the objects put up for auction for nearly USD 3 million. Buyers of the majority of the stock were museums in western America such as Washington State, San Francisco and California, as well as from Great Britain and Australia. And, 20 percent of the auctioned objects were bought by overseas Vietnamese in America, who spoke of their interest in preserving the cultural heritage of their nativeland, not of commerical interest.
The next auction of Hoi An artifacts is scheduled for Dec. 3 and 4 in San Francisco and is expected to gain more from Vietnamese Americans.
The artifacts lifted out of the sea bed off Hoi An old town marked the heyday of Vietnamese porcelainware.
