Đông Hồ folio of twelve folk woodcut prints (Vietnam). 38 x 26cm each. Đông Hồ folk woodcut painting is a line of Vietnamese folk painting originating in Đông Hồ village (Song Hồ commune, Thuận Thành District, Bắc Ninh Province). The traditional themes of Đông Hồ painting are good luck signs, historical figures, folk allegories, popular stories, and social commentaries. In printing pictures, Đông Hồ craftsmen use a special type of paper named giấy điệp. The making of tranh Đông Hồ painting was dated back to the 11th century during the reign of the Lý dynasty, Originally, Đông Hồ paintings were made only with black-and-white prints of woodcuts, but from the 15th century, different colours were introduced by craftsmen in the village. As a village specialised in making woodcuts and paintings, almost all Đông Hồ villagers were involved in the manufacturing of paintings from carving the woodblocks, producing điệp papers, obtaining natural colours to creating new themes, and printing.