Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Ho Chi Minh

Figure
1966-1976 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bust of Ho Chi Minh, leader of the struggle for Vietnamese independence from France and of the communist Vietminh state in North Vietnam that adpated many ideas and metholds form the Chinese Communist movement. Modelled in a mould, in two sections. Heavy, thick-bodied, but well-detailed portrait.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleHo Chi Minh (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Unglazed porcelain
Brief description
Bust of Ho Chi Minh, unglazed porcelain, China (probably Jingdezhen), 1966-1976
Physical description
Bust of Ho Chi Minh, leader of the struggle for Vietnamese independence from France and of the communist Vietminh state in North Vietnam that adpated many ideas and metholds form the Chinese Communist movement. Modelled in a mould, in two sections. Heavy, thick-bodied, but well-detailed portrait.
Dimensions
  • Height: 30.0cm
  • Width: 23.5cm
Credit line
Given by Mr Simon Kwan
Historical context
The bust may have been made to give as an official or diplomatic gift. At this time the American campaign in Vietnam "had reached a state of publicly acknowledged bankruptcy" (Fairbank and Reischauer, China Tradition and Transformation, p. 516), and Vietnamese/Chinese political links were strong; they were to decline to the point of border warfare when the Vietnamese moved against Chinese-backed initiatives in Cambodia in the 1970s.
Subject depicted
Collection
Accession number
FE.33-1990

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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