The chisel hammer rises and falls, and the crisp clanking sound echoes in a tin-inlaid pot making workshop in Haiyang, Shandong Province. Li Xiaoxia, the chiseling master, holds the chisel tool, bends over and taps repeatedly on the tin piece as thin as silk. Each chisel is like embroidery, and the lines of auspicious clouds and auspicious animals emerge one after another.
Engraving is just the beginning. The birth of a tin-inlaid pot requires more than ten manual processes, each of which tests the craftsman's vision and feel. This ancient skill is now walking a fine line between maintaining the skill and pursuing innovation.
The picture shows Li Xiaoxia carving patterns. Photo by Wang Jiaoni
"You can't rush this job. The tin pattern will break if you hammer it too hard, and it will be difficult to form the pattern if you use too little force. Just like embroidery, the depth of the stitches depends entirely on the feel of the hand." Li Xiaoxia, who has been engaged in engraving for more than 20 years, said that she does not make a rough draft, but composes the picture in her mind based on years of experience.
Chiseling determines the texture, and inlaying determines the overall appearance. Li Huatao, who is in charge of inlaying, said that it is not difficult to put on the prefabricated tin pattern, but it is difficult to keep it from losing shape after being attached. The curvature of the pot body is different. The tin material is soft and hard in the middle. Every time it is aligned and pressed, a pair of hands weighs it repeatedly to make the tin pattern and the pot body merge into one.
The picture shows Yu Fangyan polishing the work. Photo by Wang Jiaoni
Grinding and polishing is the last critical process. "The luster polished by the machine floats on the surface, and the polished by hand becomes smoother and smoother." Polishing master Yu Fangyan said that just one spout needs to be rubbed thousands of times until the light is discernible. After multiple rounds of fine grinding, the cold hard tin material has softened its sharpness and complements the body of the pot, giving it a warm and calm texture.
Purification, smelting, engraving, inlaying, polishing, gold plating... After more than ten processes are completed, a tin-inlaid pot is truly formed.
According to legend, the craft of tin-inlaid pots can be traced back to the Later Han Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. During the late Qing Dynasty, Han Heqin, a craftsman from Haiyang, went to Beijing to study tin inlay techniques in a palace workshop. In his later years, he returned to his hometown and founded "Rongbaoyuan", allowing the craftsmanship that had been hidden deep in the palace to take root in Jiaodong, Shandong.
Craftsmanship is passed down from generation to generation. In 1994, Han Jiting, the fourth generation inheritor of Haiyang Rongbaoyuan's tin-inlaid pot making skills, completed brand registration and the workshop began standardized operations. Tin-inlaid pots have both ornamental and collection value. They are favored by collectors and have also been included in the customized lists of enterprises and institutions, making them excellent gifts. In 2021, the tin-inlaid pot making technique was selected into the list of representative projects of provincial intangible cultural heritage in Shandong Province.
However, after years of accumulation, this ancient skill also faces difficulties in inheritance. At present, the technique of making tin-inlaid pots is mainly spread in Yantai and Weihai, Shandong, and there are only a few craftsmen who stick to it.
Che Shaolei, the representative inheritor of Yantai's municipal intangible cultural heritage of tin-inlaid pot making skills and general manager of Yantai Rongbaoyuan Crafts Co., Ltd., said frankly that the pressure for inheritance mainly comes from two aspects. First, there are fewer and fewer young people willing to study the craft with concentration, and second, the market aesthetic has changed. The traditional style of pewter-inlaid pots is mainly full of workmanship and intricate decoration. It was very popular from the 1990s to the early 2000s and is still favored by collectors today. However, simple white space has become the current aesthetic mainstream, and the market space of traditional styles is constantly shrinking.
The picture shows Che Shaolei’s newly launched tin-inlaid pot after improved design. Photo by Wang Jiaoni
Craftsmanship cannot be trapped in old aesthetics. On the premise of retaining the core craftsmanship, Che Shaolei's team adjusted their thinking and reduced the number of patterns and narrowed the width of lines to make the artifacts more white and more visually breathable.
Since 2022, the team has launched a series of products called "Shengshi Ancient Charm" from pattern design, mold optimization to multi-dimensional research and development of product systems, breaking the long-term limitation of tin inlaid tea sets as the main category, developing dozens of new products such as coffee sets, pen holders, and blessing plates, and constantly broadening product application scenarios.
Old craftsmen strictly adhere to traditional processes, while new generations of inheritors explore innovations in design. The craft of making tin-inlaid pots is still looking for its next stop. (over)
