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I wonder if anyone out there can recognize the accompanying photos. My grandfather brought these back to my mom as a gift from his travels in the merchant marines. They must be at least 50 years old.

Your elephants were made in Southern Vietnam circa the 1960s-70s and were commonly known at the time as "Saigon elephants", though possibly were made elsewhere in the country, such as Can Tho, which has considerable pottery industry. They were widely sold abroad and are still being made for export today. I never traveled to Vietnam but have a pair in green glaze that a friend picked up for me in Saigon in 1972 because they were less expensive there than where I was working at the time in Vientiane. If memory serves, I believe the pair in this large size set me back all of US$16.00, with free shipping "Space-A" on one of the frequent intra-embassy flights in the region during the war years.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Wow! Thanks for the info Bill! I wonder if they have any value beyond $16? Would you know or know of anyone else who may have an idea? Thanks for the response so much. I'm going to print out your response and save it for my daughter- these are actually her elephants. Lee W.

The link is the only pair of Vietnamese elephants I could find with a selling price ($150) listed in the Live Auctioneers archives. Probably the law of supply & demand at work.

Best regards,

Bill H

URL Title :VietnamElephants

Thanks again Bill! I followed the link and saw the Live Auctioneers archive of the 60's Vietnamese elephants. I'll relay all this information to my daughter one day.
Best regards, Lee

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