Bát Tràng Ceramic Souvenir Dish, Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu), Hanoi

A small, round ceramic dish in a glossy cream glaze with a fine dark rim line. It's painted in bright colours with the Khuê Văn Các (Constellation of Literature Pavilion), with its golden tiered roof and blue round-windowed upper storey, beside a leafy tree and a red brick wall. The caption reads "Văn Miếu Quốc Tử Giám – Hà Nội". The base is stamped "Bat Trang Vietnam". It's just right as a ring dish, a soy or salt dish, a tea bag rest or a small wall piece, and it's a sweet souvenir of Hanoi. The glaze is in good condition.

The Temple of Literature was founded in 1070 under Emperor Lý Thánh Tông. Its Quốc Tử Giám is often called Vietnam's first university. In 2012 the Khuê Văn Các pavilion on this dish was made the official symbol of Hanoi by law. The dish comes from Bát Tràng, a pottery village just outside Hanoi. The village's name appears in records from 1352 and its ceramics from 1435, and it is still making pottery today, more than 700 years on.