Museum Shows Collection of Tinware Treasures

Tin is a kind of silvery-white metal that has often been used in people’s daily lives. It is malleable, corrosion-resistant and has low toxicity, and was often used extensively for food canning until recent decades when it began to be replaced by such materials as steel and aluminum.

In ancient times, this ordinary metal was turned into exquisite crafts and daily utensils through the hands of Chinese tinsmiths.

A Hangzhou collector, Chen Jianming, has collected tinware of Chinese dynasties for 20 years. Now he has carved out a space at his privately owned museum to display some of his tinny treasures.

Jiangnan Tinware Museum exhibits more than 260 pieces of tinware ranging from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to the Republic of China (1912-49). Jiangnan in Chinese refers to the region south of the Yangtze River, Hangzhou included.

However, this tinware only occupies a small part of Chen’s collection. “My oldest tinware dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), but they are not showcased here. The total number of pieces in my collection reaches 1,000. I collected them around the country,” Chen says.

Chen is a connoisseur of antiques. As a researcher at the Institution of Cultural Relics of Zhejiang Province, he is often invited to TV talk shows on antiques appreciation like CCTV’s “Xun Bao” (Searching for Antiques).

China boasts abundant tin ore. Millennia ago, China became one of the first locations where bronze was made when tin and sometimes other metals were added to copper. Thereafter, tin became a common and vital metal in Chinese cultural and historic development.

“Bronze was not appropriate for daily tableware due to its strong odor — that’s why pottery and tinware were substituted for it in history,” Chen says. “Moreover, bronze, to some extent, was designated for the royal court in olden times, but tin was available for ordinary people, so I think tinware conveyed much of the wisdom of folk craftsmen and was the medium for recording civil culture development.”

The earliest batch of unearthed Chinese tinware dates to the Zhou Dynasty (circa 11th century-256 BC). However, tinware was mainly used as sacrificial vessels for worship before the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

It was not until the Song Dynasty (960-1279) that tinware was used as daily utensils. The primary time of production was during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, which explains why most of the exhibits in the museum are from these two periods.

“In the Ming and Qing era, tinsmiths began to imitate the shapes and patterns of porcelain and ceramics. They engraved pictures and characters on tinware surfaces, improving its status from daily items to ornamental items,” Chen says.

Today, there are still tinsmiths in Shaoxing and Yongkang of Zhejiang Province. “Tin would decompose under minus 13.2 Celsius degrees, so the craft only exists in southern regions of China,” says Chen. Now, he often invites Zhejiang tinsmiths to produce tinware in his museum on the site.

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The items displayed are divided into tableware, wine containers, cosmetic containers, tea appliances, lamps and lanterns, stationery, musical instruments and sacrificial vessels.

The melting point of tin is low, so it cannot be used for vessels heated over fire, but items of tin alloyed with other metals can be. The exhibited tableware features assorted patterns and shapes according to regional art styles, reflecting ample folk culture of China.

A hotpot made in the Qing Dynasty is comprised of four parts, a pot top, a pot, a base and a tray. It could be taken apart and washed, and had carved characters, showcasing the ingenious design capability of ancient tinsmiths.

The good thermal conductivity of tin led to its use as a material for wine containers. In winter, it took only a couple of minutes to warm the wine in a tin container while maintaining the wine’s aroma.

Tin cosmetic containers could be sealed well, preventing rouge and other makeup from going bad. They were molded into shapes such as golden fish, leaves and the Chinese zither, symbolizing people’s desire for an auspicious and happy life.

Tin is not easily oxidized in air and is used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion. Tea cans covered with a layer of tin, sometimes with jade and semiprecious gems attached and incised with word “China” on the bottom, were exported to Western countries during late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China.

Jiangnan Tinware Museum

Open: Tuesdays-Sundays, 9am-5pm

Address: 250 Jichang Lu

Admission: Free