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| Phan Tan Dat beside his mother-of-pearl inlay work – “Longevity Like the Southern Mountains” |
Seashells preserving the ancient soul
The whirring sound of a saw blends with the rhythmic chiseling echoing through the small mother-of-pearl inlay workshop in Huong An Ward. At a small wooden table, Dat hunches over, and each meticulous cut trembling slightly with his hand. Morning sunlight slants through the eaves, spreading yellow sunlight on the polished shells, making the blue, purple, and pink hues shimmer brilliantly, as if bringing the breath of the ocean to the imperial capital. “These shells once lived a brilliant life in the open sea. When they come into the craftsman’s hands, they live another life, lasting hundreds of years in exquisite mother-of-pearl inlay products,” says Dat, his hands still carefully cutting each piece of shell.
Dat came to the inlay craft like “fate ordained by heaven.” Once visiting an acquaintance’s woodshop, young Dat became mesmerized by the shimmering inlaid patterns. “Watching people work, I just kept standing there watching, never getting tired. Something inside me was indescribably driving me,” recalls Dat. Then he went to learn the craft, and while everyone else had to pay for their learning, Dat was kindly provided meals and lodging by master Nguyen Van Ly, a veteran mother-of-pearl inlay artisan, who even gave him pocket money. “Perhaps the master wanted to encourage me to pursue the craft to the end,” emotionally reflects Dat.
With four years of dedicated learning and seventeen years of continued refinement, the young man has now become one of the rare few young people in Hue who persist with mother-of-pearl inlay work, a craft that demands patience, keen eyes, and meticulousness bordering on absolute perfection.
Dat explains that mother-of-pearl inlay is a sophisticated handicraft requiring expertise in both wood and shells. Wood used for inlay is typically ebony, rosewood, or ironwood. Shells used for inlay are sea shells from Khanh Hoa coastal areas, sometimes imported from Singapore, Indonesia, or Japan. After being polished smooth, each sea shell is cut into three long strips following the shell’s curved contour, then drawn on and sawed into shapes.
The inlay process consists of three stages, each requiring near-absolute precision, as even a small mistake can cause the entire picture to lose its harmony. Dat explains that the first stage involves sketching the pattern on paper, then drawing it on the shell and sawing it into shape; the wood is carved in negative relief, then special glue is used to attach each shell piece; finishing is the final stage and also the most important in mother-of-pearl inlay work. “The craftsman must use a small knife blade to finish specific details like human faces, each flower vein, leaf vein, tree knots... They must make the mother-of-pearl inlay details come alive as if real when completed,” shares Dat.
Eternal flame of craft
The 90s-born young man says that through many years in the profession, he still vividly remembers the happiness of setting foot in the Imperial Citadel in 2015. Not as a tourist, but as someone restoring fallen mother-of-pearl inlay sections on ancient structures. This work was typically reserved for artisans seasoned in age and experience. That year Dat was only 23 years old, yet he was trusted with the work, so he felt both pressure and great happiness and pride.
“Standing inside the Imperial Citadel at that time, touching those ancient monuments, I felt like I was continuing the ancestral lineage,” shares Dat with his sparkling and proud eyes. The carts at Huu Vu, the rectangular horizontal lacquered boards at Trieu To Temple, the parallel sentences at Thai Binh Pavilion... all once bore the young man’s handprints. Each time he returns and stands before the works he helped restore, Dat feels pride welling up, as if joining history in preserving the breath of ancient Hue.
Devoted to mother-of-pearl inlay work, Dat has created thousands of large and small works, most carrying a traditional breath, such as paintings: “Vinh hoa phu quy” (Glory, Wealth and Honor), “Long ngu hi thuy” (Dragon and fish playing in water), “Vinh quy bai to” (Triumphant return to honor ancestors), horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, guarding screens... Each product is the crystallization of dozens of days, even years of dedication. One guarding screen nearly two meters tall took him two full years to complete, valued at hundreds of millions of dong.
From a poor student passionate about inlay work, Dat has now become the owner of a fine arts workshop with three sections for carpentry, carving, and shell inlay. At its peak, his workshop employed over 20 workers from within and outside the locality, and currently maintains a stable workforce of about 10 people. Besides establishing his own reputation, Dat has also passed on the craft’s fire to over 100 students, of whom more than 60 have persevered with the profession. Many students have opened their own workshops, such as Le Duy Trung, Nguyen Van Tinh, Le Chieu Thien... continuing mother-of-pearl inlay work in Kim Long Ward, contributing to preserving and spreading traditional excellence.
Dat's customers span all regions across the country. Each year, the workshop receives hundreds of orders. Many customers love Dat’s products and return. While most people have switched to popular product lines for easier sales, Dat remains committed to traditional inlay patterns requiring high quality and sophistication, even though income isn’t always stable. “As society develops, traditional crafts are gradually narrowing. But I believe that as long as passion remains strong, the craft will sustain us,” shares Dat.