Royal worship set of Thieu Tri period.
1. Incense burner – Material: bronze.
2. Incense burner – Material: bronze – Cast with three characters “Van Tue Lac”.
3. Main table – Carved with five-clawed dragon (symbol of the emperor) and utensils.
4. Worship throne.
5. Pair of candlesticks made of wood gilded with 24k gold.
Le Thep Vang (Regulations on gold leafing)
According to volume 247 – The Royal Code of Dai Nam (Institute of History), Thieu Tri year 2 (1842) stipulated:
After receiving the order from the King, the Eunuch will send the order to the Departments to do it. The companies and the poets will calculate the amount of gold needed and will receive the corresponding amount of gold, and bring it back to the Department to do it. When finished, the actual amount will be recorded in the internal management book, supervision book, and a detailed book will be made and transferred to the Military Archives book for storage. In Thieu Tri year 4, it was stipulated: From now on, when gilding, the Military Archives Department must establish a council for the 4 Departments. If it is in the Internal Management Department, the council of the 4 Departments must go to the factory to supervise. If doing a large project, the Company must send workers to the site to do it.
Then there was an order from the Ministry of Finance (equivalent to the current Ministry of Finance) and the Ministry of Public Works (equivalent to the Ministry of Construction) to establish a council to calculate the total cost of gold leaf and receive an advance amount of gold that the council has approved.
When the construction is completed, follow the above process and regulations to make a report. Some comments: The Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century used a lot of gold in furniture and utensils, which was really lavish and luxurious. But it also shows that the management was quite professional and strict about the loss of public property.
