Bang Chau hamlet (Dap Da town of An Nhon district) is famous for brozen casting. According to senior people, the Bang Chau hamlet’s casting has been originated from the Tay Son dynasty. Many statues of Buddha, worshipping objects, work instruments, even grenades, and pots for military use in the revolutionary war have been casted by Bang Chau’s casters. One of the works that villagers have felt pride is the full-length statue of Uncle Ho. It is now exhibited at the An Nhon district’s Cultural Center.

The brozen statue of President Ho Chi Minh casted by Bang Chau hamlet’s casters (Dap Da town of An Nhon district in the central Binh Dinh province) is exhibited at An Nhon district’s Cultural center. Photo: Ngoc Dien

In March, 1985 the statue was moulded. This was the most difficult phase because we hadn’t casted any full-length statue before, even though some big statues of Buddha had been previously casted with casting principles. At that time, caster based on the full-length portrait of Uncle Ho, and imagined the Uncle Ho’s image to cast an earthen statue. They then went inviting artists Tran Tia and Thanh Ve in Hanoi to give their ideas. The two artists fixed some features, especially the face and hands so that it more looked like Uncle Ho. Mr Nong Quoc Chan (former deputy minister of Culture) was also invited to give comments. The model statue was taken photograph from 6 sides to send the Central to be approved. After the sketch had been approved, casters began to make the mould.

Casting is a complex and meticulous process. There were scores of assistants, let alone 15 chief casters participating in the casting. The coat was made from the clay mixed with the rice husk so that it was elastic and not cracked, and the skeleton of the statue included the fine clay with coal for heat-resistance. The space between the coat and the skeleton must be equal. Over 1.2 tons of molten brozen was cleansed twice. The amount of molten brozen had to be die-casted into the mould continuously, not interrupted because if being interrupted, the statue can be damaged.

After casting completely, the statue was cooled. Caster Dang Van Anh talked: “We had to gradually carve the redundant parts. We then used the grindstones broken into four pieces to scrape. The artist Thanh Ve contributed his ideas after each part had been repaired. The most difficult features were the hair, the beard, and even the toes. Initially, the work seemed simple, but in fact it took us more than one month to repair.”

After many months, the statue was completely casted on December, 1985. The whole statue (including the pedestal) is 2,1 meters high, and over 2 tons weight in which the height from the feet (with pair of sandals) to the top of the head is 1,85 meters. The statue had been exhibited at the provincial exhibition center for more than one month before being taken to the An Nhon district. It is now exhibited at An Nhon district’s Cultural Center.

The brozen statue of Uncle Ho shows not only the respect of An Nhon district’s casters to Uncle Ho but a great development of the art of casting at the Bang Chau hamlet. These casters are able to feel a great sense of pride for their casting of not only the work instruments, worshipping objects and commodities but the perfect work of art, the statue of Uncle Ho, which was created by skillful casters from moulding to casting.

• Written by Viet Tho – Van Chuong
• Translated by Hong Quang