Craft village · Đồ đồng trang trí · Decorative bronze

Đại Bái

Làng đúc đồng Đại Bái — the bronze village east of the river

Thirty-five kilometres east of Hà Nội, across the river in Bắc Ninh, Đại Bái has cast bronze for a thousand years: temple bells, incense burners, the great drums whose patterns go back to the Đông Sơn bronzes. The lane rings with hammers; the foundry pours before the heat of the day.

Wide view of the Đại Bái foundry before dawn, molten bronze glowing in a crucible, sand moulds on the floor, smoke in lamplight, bronze casting & chasing village, Red River Delta, Vietnam

“The mould is broken to free the work. Every bell is cast once.”

Thirty-five kilometres east of Hà Nội, across the river in Bắc Ninh, Đại Bái has cast bronze for a thousand years: temple bells, incense burners, the great drums whose patterns go back to the Đông Sơn bronzes. The lane rings with hammers; the foundry pours before the heat of the day.

Craft: Bronze casting & chasingĐúc đồng
Where: Gia Bình, Bắc Ninh35 km from Hà Nội
Practised since: c. 11th centuryA thousand years of casting
Material: BronzeCast in sand, chased by hand
On LangSoul: 1 artisan5 works

01 — The story

A thousand years of pouring before dawn

Bronze was the first art of the delta. Đại Bái is one of the few places still making it the way the drums were made.

Archive black-and-white photograph from the mid-twentieth century, faded and grainy: the foundry in Đại Bái, bronze casting & chasing, villagers in simple work clothes, old brick and timber

Bronze was the first art of the delta. Đại Bái is one of the few places still making it the way the drums were made.

The village’s founder, by tradition a craftsman named Nguyễn Công Truyền, taught the trade in the eleventh century, and the lane has not stopped since. The temples of the north ordered their bells and censers here; the court ordered drums.

Casting is a morning’s work and a season’s preparation. The mould is built of sand and clay around a wax or clay form, dried for weeks, and broken after the pour: each large piece is cast once. What follows — the chasing of the surface, the patina — takes longer than the casting, and it is where the hand shows.

Molten bronze poured from a crucible into a sand mould before dawn, orange glow on the casters, in the Đại Bái foundry, sand moulds and charcoal glow, dark bronze with a green-brown patina, smoke and low light

A small hammer and chisel chasing a drum pattern into bronze, bright marks in dark metal, in the Đại Bái foundry, sand moulds and charcoal glow, dark bronze with a green-brown patina, smoke and low light

02 — The technique

What makes Đại Bái bronze

The village casts the way the Đông Sơn bronzes were cast: sand mould, one pour, the surface finished by hand.

I

Sand and clay moulds

Built by hand around the form, dried slowly, broken after the pour.

II

One pour

The bronze is poured before the day warms, in one continuous movement. There is no second chance.

III

Chased by hand

The pattern is cut into the cooled surface with small chisels, not cast in.

IV

Patina, not polish

The surface is darkened with the village's own mixture and left to deepen. Polishing would remove the work.

Words you will meet

Đồng

Bronze; also copper, the metal the village is named for.

Đúc

To cast.

Chạm

To chase, to engrave by hand.

Trống đồng

The bronze drum, the delta's oldest art and the motif the village still cuts.

04 — Works from Đại Bái

Five works from the village

All decorative bronze works

Incense burner, cast bronze

Nguyễn Văn Sơn

$540

Temple bell, cast bronze

Nguyễn Văn Sơn

$1,900

Lotus-bud candle holders, pair

Nguyễn Văn Sơn

$380

Small drum, cast bronze

Nguyễn Văn Sơn

$1,250

All decorative bronze works

Map · Hà Nội → Đại Bái

05 — Visiting

Come on a pouring day

We take small groups to Đại Bái on pouring days, a few times a season: an early start, the pour, and a morning in the chasing workshop. Collectors who have acquired a work from the village visit as our guests.

From Hà Nội: About an hour by car
Best season: October to March, when the foundry pours most often
Group size: Six people at most

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