13,906 antique items were shared on May 29 by Quang Nam’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Doan Anh Duong Co., which excavated the site where the antiques were found from 2004 to 2007.

Among the 15,934 items excavated, 13,906 were split into 10 economically and culturally equal portions. Based on the legal agreement between the culture department and Doan Anh Duong Co., the department took three portions while the company received the remainder after a random drawing to determine which side got which items.

The remaining 2,028 artifacts, many of which aren’t intact or don’t have whole sets, were also divided into ten portions, with three portions (i.e. 608 items) for the provincial culture department and the remaining 1,420 items for Doan Anh Duong Co. Vo Thi Hanh Dung, the company’s director, said that the firm will present these 1,420 antiques to Quang Nam province to display them at the provincial museum.

According to Ho Xuan Tinh, deputy head of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, most of the antiques, which were excavated from a shipwreck between 2004 and 2007 in the Cu Lao Cham sea in central Hoi An town, are Chu Dau pottery.

This pottery, which originated from northern Hai Duong province and dates back to the 15th century, comprises of 18 main categories and over 100 subcategories, such as bowls, plates, teapots and statues. Several of them could fetch thousands of US dollars.

According to Doan Sung, counsel to Doan Anh Duong Co., several of these items, which boast intricate patterns and unique shapes and colors, such as the large plate featuring a unicorn turning into a dragon and a unicorn with silver in its mouth, have been sold for up to US$30,000.

The findings from this shipwreck have proved that back in the 15th and 16th centuries, Vietnam played an active role in the ‘Silk Road’ and ‘pottery road’ connecting major areas in the region.

In 2003, Doan Anh Duong Co. signed a contract with the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to undertake the excavation of the shipwreck, after taking it over from a Malaysian company.

According to Dung, the company director, the excavation cost her company a total of roughly VND23 billion (US$1.11 million), with the number of workers reaching up to 50 at a time.

The excavation was expected to continue into the future. However, late last year Doan Anh Duong Co., which has worked in antique unearthing for some 10 years, asked to have their share of the antiques as the company will discontinue the work.