Chợ Mới

Chợ Mới is a district of islands and channels between the Tiền and Hậu rivers, rich with orchards and with the wealth they brought. In the early twentieth century, as Mekong families built larger wooden houses, they needed carved altars, doors, screens and the lacquered boards that hang above the ancestral altar. Carpenters who had worked on the region’s temples and communal houses set up workshops on the islands to supply them, and the district became known across An Giang for its woodwork.

The workshops still work, though what they make has shifted. Much of the output is furniture, and modern machines now rough out work that was once all done by hand. But altars and carved panels are still ordered for new houses and temples, and a carver sitting on the floor of an open workshop, chisels laid out in a row, is still a common sight. The best pieces are often finished with lacquer and gilding, in the warm red and gold the south prefers.

Look at the depth and the undercutting. Good relief carving has layers: leaves in front of branches, birds in front of leaves, with shadows cut in behind. The chisel marks on visible faces should be clean and confident, not furry. In pierced panels, check that thin parts follow the grain so they will not snap. Joinery matters as much as carving; a well-made altar is assembled with wooden joints that close tightly.