Sơn Đồng

Sơn Đồng lies west of Hà Nội, in a district of old craft villages. For many centuries its carvers have made the statuary of the north’s pagodas, temples and communal houses: Buddhas, bodhisattvas, guardian figures, the gods of village shrines, and the altars, boards and parallel sentences that surround them. The work was done on commission, and statues from the village travelled across the delta to be installed and consecrated.

The craft lives on in workshops that line the lanes, many of them run by families who have carved for generations. Demand from temples and households is steady, and the village also restores old statues, which means its carvers know how the earlier work was made. Carving and lacquering are often done by different hands, sometimes in different houses, and a large commission may pass through several workshops. Some workshops now use machines for roughing out, then carve the detail by hand.

A good Sơn Đồng figure is judged on its face and hands first, which must be calm and alive at once, and on the fall of the robe. Under the gilding, the lacquer should be smooth and deep, with no cracks at the joints. Gold leaf laid by hand shows faint overlaps and a warmer tone than gold paint. On older pieces, wear through to red or black lacquer at the high points is natural and should not be hidden.