Mr. Tran Duy Khoa, 36 years old, in Phu Nhuan district spent 7 years collecting nearly 30 quartz dragon statue models, mostly crafted by Chinese artisans.
Mr. Khoa’s collection is displayed in a private room. “Each dragon work has its own sophistication in each line and the sparkle of precious stones, bringing a feeling of joy when looking at it,” the 36-year-old man said.
This Tet holiday, Mr. Khoa recently added a quartz stone statue carved with 9 dragons, the largest in the collection. The statue is named Cuu Long Nhat , weighs 27 kg, is made from monolithic stone, is 60 cm high, carved in a tetrahedron style, in the middle are pearls and nine peaks.
The statue’s owner said he imported a stone block weighing nearly 100 kg from South America and then shipped it to China for two years to be crafted. “Every detail from the scales to the dragon’s feet is meticulously carved, very difficult to manipulate. Both front and back sides are see-through,” Mr. Khoa said.
The remaining dragon statues are smaller in size, placed on wooden shelves, all made of quartz, weighing from 2 to 4 kg.
According to Mr. Khoa, choosing quartz material because this stone has high value, feng shui significance, and diversity of colors helps the statue have a more beautiful and sparkling effect.
One of the first statues Mr. Khoa had was a dragon seal called Dragon Seal Conqueror , made of rose gold rutilated quartz, weighing nearly two kilograms.
The dragon statues in the collection were partly purchased from available models abroad, but were mainly designed by Mr. Khoa himself. The owner of the statue set said the statue models were bought for several hundred million VND, even more than one billion VND for large-sized statues.
“The price is expensive because I have to buy stone in South American countries and then send a sketch of the statue to the artist to create,” Mr. Khoa said.
The statue of Nhat Long Quyen Vuong weighs 2.6 kg and shows a winding dragon shape, spraying pearls and pearls. Crafting these statues usually takes about half a year.
The statue named Red Dragon Zhao Tai Hop is made of quartz stone with blood inclusions. Naming statues is often based on the dragon’s shape and the owner’s emotions. “Many times I had to ask friends to help me come up with a good, meaningful name,” Mr. Khoa said.
A dragon curls around a large pearl, named Purple Dragon Pearl , made of amethyst stone.
“This is one of my favorite statues in the collection, showing the scene of Buddha’s birth, the base is exquisitely sculpted with 9 dragons,” Mr. Khoa shared. Next time, he will rework it so that the dragons can spray water around.
In addition to the main material being quartz, the collection also has many dragon statues made of other stones such as marble, ruby, and sapphire. The highlight is the dragon image in the Buddhist statue made of marble.
Dragon statue made of sandalwood and stone crafted by an artist in Quang Nam province 3 years ago, according to a customer’s idea. The work weighs about 50 kg and includes many dragons, decorated with precious stones symbolizing pearls.
Photo: Internet