Artisan · Mây tre cói đan · Phú Vinh village

Trần
Thị Mai

Rattan weaver · Third generation · At the frame since 1998

“Rain pattern is counted, not seen. If you look, you lose the count.”

Her mark, a small woven tag tied inside the rim of every piece.

Craft: Rattan & bambooLidded vessels, fine weave
Workshop: Phú VinhHer mother's courtyard
Learned from: Her motherand the pattern books
Signature: Rain patternon lidded vessels
On LangSoul: 2 worksTakes commissions

01 — The maker

The one who counts

Mai weaves the tightest pattern in the village — the rain, a diagonal that has to be counted stitch by stitch and cannot be corrected once it is wrong.

Fingers counting strands across a diagonal rain-pattern weave, in a Phú Vinh courtyard, split rattan cane drying on bamboo racks, pale straw and honey tones, whitewashed wall, dappled sun

A rattan lid being shaped on a wooden form, in a Phú Vinh courtyard, split rattan cane drying on bamboo racks, pale straw and honey tones, whitewashed wall, dappled sun

Mai weaves the tightest pattern in the village — the rain, a diagonal that has to be counted stitch by stitch and cannot be corrected once it is wrong.

Mai came to the fine work later than most, after years making for the export trade, and she brought a patience the fast work does not need. Her lidded vessels close with a sound; the lid fits because the count is exact from the first round to the last.

She keeps the family’s pattern books — pages of diagonals and counts in her mother’s hand — and is slowly teaching her daughter to read them.

Old handwritten pattern books open on a table beside coils of cane, in a Phú Vinh courtyard, split rattan cane drying on bamboo racks, pale straw and honey tones, whitewashed wall, dappled sun

A village courtyard with work drying on racks, brick floor, soft morning light, in a Phú Vinh courtyard, split rattan cane drying on bamboo racks, pale straw and honey tones, whitewashed wall, dappled sun

02 — The works

Two works from the bench

All rattan, bamboo & sedge works

Lidded vessel, rain pattern

Vessel · Edition of 6

$340

Lantern, open weave

Lantern · Edition of 10

$190

All rattan, bamboo & sedge works

03 — Commission

Mai takes a few commissions a year

A lidded vessel to a size, a pair, a pattern from the books. Tell us what you have in mind and we will carry the conversation to the courtyard. Eight to twelve weeks from cane to crate.

Start a commission

A letter from Phú Vinh

“I have begun the lid. It is the part that decides everything, so it goes first.”

— to a collector, March 2026.

Start a commission

Other makers we work with

All artisans