Vietnam striving to repatriate imperial seal of Nguyen Dynasty
Paris-based auction house Millon removed a golden imperial seal dating back to 1823 from the list of objects offered for sale at auction on October 31, the Department of Cultural Heritage said on November 1.
Hanoi (VNA) – Paris-basedauction house Millon removed a golden imperial seal dating back to 1823 fromthe list of objects offered for sale at auction on October 31, the Departmentof Cultural Heritage said on November 1.
After negotiation efforts, the Vietnameserepresentative and Millon reached an agreement on deferring the auction of the seal,with the line “Hoang de chi bao” (Treasure of the Emperor) on it,at 7:30am on October 31 (Paris time). At 10:10am the same day, the auctionhouse issued an official statement about the removal of the item from the listof antiquities to be auctioned on October 31.
This is the initial success of the efforts to repatriate the seal, according to the department under the Ministryof Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).
In the time ahead, the MCST will stronglycoordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some other ministries, sectors,organisations, and individuals to mobilise every resource for returning theseal home as soon as possible, the department noted.
It added the determination to repatriatethe seal aims to not only recover lost antiquities and cultural heritages butalso affirm the country’s stature and influence, helping affirm the Party andState’s clear-sighted viewpoint on preserving and bringing into play the culturalheritage values, develop an advanced culture deeply imbued with the nationalidentity of Vietnam, and contribute to the world’s cultural heritage.
This is highly meaningful to safeguarding the integrity of cultural heritage –an important issue that UNESCO pays great attention to in cultural heritagepreservation, and also demonstrates Vietnam’s role in implementing theinternational conventions to which it is a party, the department said.
On October 19, Millon announced thatit will auction 329 antiquities, including two dating back to the NguyenDynasty (1802 - 1945) – a golden seal made in 1823 under the reign of King MinhMang (1820 - 1841) and a golden bowl made under the reign of King Khai Dinh (1917- 1925), at 11am on October 31 (Paris time).
On the basis of collected evidence,verification through Millon-published information and images, and comparisonwith some golden seals of the Nguyen Dynasty being kept at some Vietnamesemuseums and relic sites, the seal supposed to be auctioned is confirmed to be “Hoangde chi bao” cast in 1823 under the reign of King Minh Mang./.
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The golden seal “Hoang de chi bao” (Source: VNA) 
