Entering Duong’s house in Thuan An City in Binh Duong province, visitors are attracted by shelves which display hundreds of teapots of different colors, designs and sizes.

The items are part of Duong’s collection of 1,000 secondhand teapots. The man from Thai Binh doesn’t like drinking tea, but he has a passion for collecting teaports.

Duong began collecting in 2012 to find familiar teapots from his childhood.

Duong said he is attracted by the beauty of the teapots and their stories about the development history of the Vietnamese nation.

At first, he wandered through antique shops and pavement secondhand stalls in   and HCM City. Later, he began seeking old teapots on forums for antique collectors.

As social networks have become popular, he now mostly seeks teapots in chat groups on Facebook and Zalo. After 12 years of collecting, he now owns about 1,000 teapots.

Most teapots in his collection are made from ceramic, while others from porcelain belonging to Van Ninh,  , and Saigon schools. Duong also collects antique glazed terra-cota teapots. All of these artifacts have rustic shapes, prints and patterns, close to Vietnamese people's lives.

He also spends time to learn about ceramics and porcelain, and has become well known as a reputable collector. His deep knowledge about ceramics and porcelain has helped him find valuable teapots.

Of the 1,000 items he has, Duong particularly likes the teapot made in 1984 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Vietnam’s victory in Dien Bien Phu battle. The teapot was made in the year he was born.

Duong really finds it difficult to keep all of his items. In his house, 120 sq m, he puts glass wardrobes to display two-thirds of the teapots in his collection. The remaining teapots are on iron shelves leaning against the wall on the courtyard. He has to clean the items every 2-3 months.

‘Collecting teapots, which was just a hobby, has become a great passion. The collection has priceless spiritual value and high economic value,” he said.

The teapots bear historical stories about the culture and life of Vietnamese in the past. Many investors are moved when seeing the teapots, which evoke memories about things their families once used.

Phan Dau