Below are some items from the antique lamp collection, considered Vietnam’s largest and most diverse.

An exhibition featuring part of the collection was recently held at the Dien Ban museum during the 2013 Quang Nam Festival.

The almost 500-item collection comes in a wide variety of materials, including glass, terra cotta and pottery; shapes, colors, patterns, decoration styles, ages and purposes.

Some of the most unique items include the Renaissance colored glass lamps, with their bases skillfully decorated with brass statuettes of Greek gods, along with an intricate flower-patterned glass lampshade.

Some are shaped as owls or elephants and boast intricate decorations, and were used during sea voyages and train trips, as well as home decorative items.

Le Anh Duc, the owner of the collection, passed away in a road accident in 2002 at the age of 32.

According to Le Cong Chiem, Duc’s father, a war veteran, Duc developed his passion for collecting antique stamps and money as a 6 year-old child. The young man turned his attention to ancient lamps in 1990, when he and his family moved to Ho Chi Minh City.

A telecommunication engineer, Duc soon found himself travelling throughout the country and abroad during his business trips to buy precious antique lamps.

Set on realizing his deceased son’s dream of founding a private museum to showcase his treasured antiques, Chiem declined several generous offers to buy the collection.

He finally decided to hand over his son’s prized assortment to the Dien Ban museum.