Images of cats from the British Museum collection, £9.99
© 2002 Nguyen Thu
Map of Vietnam
Height: 275.000 mm
Width:
390.000 mm
Gift of the
Asia OA 1999.6-30.015
Asia
Nguyen Thu, a drawing
Vietnam, signed and dated, 1965
Two soldiers lighting a cigarette
This black ink drawing shows two soldiers lighting a cigarette with junks sailing in the background. Both soldiers are wearing camouflaged capes and the characteristic Russian-design round helmet of the North Vietnamese army.
During the American-Vietnam War (1965-75) the average Vietnamese soldier stood five feet tall and weighed just over 6½ stone. Their size, as here, was commonly exaggerated by the artists. The picture is inscribed with what appears to be a place name, Mui Chun.
J. Harrison-Hall, Vietnam Behind the Lines: Imag (London, British Museum Press, 2002)