DURING my kindergarten days, the thing that I looked forward to most was having afternoon tea. Every child held an enamel mug filled with hot milk.

Scratch resistant, durable and easy to clean, vitreous enamel — also known as porcelain enamel — was once a necessity of daily life in China. Mugs, washbasins, bowls, plates and spittoons were all made of thin sheet steel with a vitreous enamel coating.

The technique, which dates back to ancient Egypt, was first introduced to Shanghai by a British man in 1916, when only rich families could afford enamelware. Patterns on the enamelware were hand-painted at the time.

Enameled products became widespread after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Most of the products of the times carried political messages.

In the 1950s, some 903,000 enamel mugs imprinted with the Chinese characters for “loveliest people” were sent to the Chinese soldiers engaged in the Korean War.

During the period of the “cultural revolution” (1966-76), enamelware bore quotes from Chairman Mao Zedong.

“My predecessor listened to China National Radio every night,” said Xie Dangwei, the last factory manager of the Shanghai Jiuxin Enamel Factory. “When there were new orders or quotes from Chairman Mao, the workers would design and produce related enamelware overnight for sale the following day. They were what today we call ‘fast-moving consumer goods.’”

The heyday of enamelware in China came in the 1980s and the 90s, when a group of painters such as Mu Yilin and Xie Jiaxiang did the design patterns.

Peonies and mandarin ducks against backgrounds of white and red were two typical patterns of that era. Costing 122 yuan (US$17.7) a set, two patterned enamel spittoons, two washbasins and two mugs were must-buy products for newlyweds at a time when monthly wages were about 40 yuan.

The enamel washbasins decorated with the figure of the God of Longevity were typical farewell gifts given by factories to retiring employees.

“The painters did a product market research survey in Wing On department store before making their designs,” said Xie. “The sketches were later reviewed by the factories. The patterns were carefully chosen, and classic patterns endured over two decades.”

Paintings on decorative enamelware needed to fit a circular bottom with a 30-centimeter diameter.

According to Xie, a group of 10 workers specialized in spraying pigment onto wares in the factory, which turned out about 20,000 pieces of enamelware a month.

With the rising popularity of new materials like stainless steel and plastic, enamelware gradually faded away.

The Jiuxin Enamel Factory, with 3,000 workers, closed in 2002, and Shanghai gradually lost its status as a major enamelware producer.

On the last day the factory operated, Xie said, he cried.

But the loss of a job didn’t end his association with enamelware. He began collecting it.

Xie now has about 2,600 pieces of old enamel works. Once they stuffed his apartment; now they are exhibited in Eight Tenths Garden, a museum and cultural complex in Jiading District.

The museum site is exquisite architecture in its own right, designed by Wutopia Lab, which is led by renowned Chinese architect Yu Ting.

“In order to establish the museum, a new home for my collection, I sold an apartment in the city center,” Xie said. “Family members always supported my lifelong devotion to enamelware.”

More than just supporting it, Xie’s son Xie Xian followed in his father’s footsteps. The young Xie studied fashion design in Milan, and while abroad often found enamelware of different styles in flea markets and exhibitions.

“The experience gave me a new understanding of enamelware and inspired me to create products that cater to current aesthetics,” said Xie Xian, who was born in 1990.

In 2016, he and his wife Gao Huanhuan founded a studio called Jiushen, in tribute to his father’s factory.

Their aim is to return enamelware to the spotlight.

Before telling his father about the studio, Xie Xian and Gao wrote a business proposal.

“My father was very calm while reading it,” Xie Xian said. “But I could tell that he was thrilled by our decision. He conducted a SWOT analysis (of strengths and weaknesses) of the plan that very night. Two days later, he took us to some factories to show us the process of making enamelware.”

To attract a new, younger generation to enamelware, Xie Xian uses modern, simplified designs and improved enamel quality. The underlying sheet steel is thicker than in the past, and one coat of enamel has been replaced by two or three.

The transformation wasn’t exactly welcomed by old-school enamelware makers, who regarded the young Xie as something of an upstart.

“They are very experienced but cling to an old stereotype of enamelware,” said Xie Xian. “They were reluctant to accept new ideas. But I don’t think enamelware has to have the same look as old-style pieces to be desirable.”

Innovation hasn’t meant a complete break with tradition. Collaborating with a master of woodblock printing in Shanxi Province, Xie has evolved an image of the Kitchen God into the pattern of enamel mugs, which have been popular sellers.

Xie’s team also has tapped the culture of the ethnic Miao in his enamelware to create products for traditional Chinese festivals.

Instead of calling Xie “boss,” the staff simply address him as “brother Xian.”

“There is no hierarchy in our team,” said Xie Xian. “Everyone can speak out freely. People born in the 1990s are frank and direct, which is a change from previous managers in commerce.”

Eight Tenths Garden

The museum is under renovation and will reopen early next year.

Opening hours: 10am-4:30pm (closed on Mondays)

Tel: 6957-0799

Address: 151 Jiayi Rd., Jiangqiao Town, Jiading District