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I'm not even sure if this is the name for these -- I mean the "New China" style mug-gaiwans (I think these started in Shanghai?), and in particular the big enamel ones that seem like they are inspired by the old WW1 British Army field mugs.

These are interesting to me because the UK field mug was despised because it did so badly with boiling water. Either the mug burned your lips or the tea was lukewarm. (Given their size and origin, I suspect that the British versions were originally imagined as beer mugs and impromptu soup bowls, but were pressed into service for tea.)

However, when used with jasmine tea in China, suddenly there were everywhere.

Now, of course, they seem to be nowhere -- are these still popular? Maybe I've got the name mixed up.

I think they're usually just called 茶缸, sometimes 搪瓷茶缸, regardless of whether or not they come with a lid. Don't think anyone refer to them as 盖碗 - there's a gai but no wan

Can't speak for how common they are in general (outside of souvenir and "nostalgia for Mao era" shops), but my in-laws still have some of those mugs lying around. When I'm in China I brew all of the tea I drink in a stainless steel mug of that shape.

One puzzler is the purpose of the stenciled number. Apparently this was a common mark on some of these. Here is an award mug (maybe missing its lid) given out to an employee for the first quarter of 1953. The owner here suggests that the number is an issue number -- maybe the award was given out to all the employees in a particular department? Or is it more of a unit code that described something about the mug, as was popular with other tea-related items?

mbanu wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:52 pm

One puzzler is the purpose of the stenciled number. Apparently this was a common mark on some of these. Here is an award mug (maybe missing its lid)

This is just an assumption, of course. It looks like there were a few enamelware patterns that might have been exported, as they have neither lids nor numbers on them, and include plates and bowls with the same pattern. Really not sure on the details here...

*Edit: Found one with a lid!

Wow those are the cups I used when I was a kid for my toothbrush!

Those look like fun! I like the stencil ones, but as mentioned above not practical for hit drinks... and once they are chipped they start to become a hazard.

I have a few enamel cups that were picked up as souvenirs, but haven't gotten any gaiwan ones with the lid like these. I had looked at them occasionally but most modern reproductions or new ones tend to have cultural revolution propaganda or Mao on them which.... yeah. though I've seen a couple that have a very 70's looking floral/double happiness image. I can't vouch for the quality of the enamel on any of those though. I think ones with lids like this that could be used as a gaiwan were in the west rather used for shaving soap.

I'll bring my enamel mug sometimes when outdoors all day since my thermos doesn't have a cup lid - the handle won't get too hot if you only fill it about 1/3rd of the way or so rather than using it like a coffee mug, in which case its kind of awful. I never tried but dipping the handle in something like plastidip might help insulate it. Quality modern ones like Falconware should be safe to use even when chipped if they are good quality and they chip in a way that more of the enamel won't easily flake off- the steel will oxidize and be safe, the concern I think is more about accidentally ingesting what are essentially small bits of sharp porcelain if it flakes more, or what might leech if its from a lower quality producer, so yeah I would not drink out of one that might have had sketchy production, and certainly not if it was chipped. Unfortunately I don't think the good enamelware companies still around like Falconware make ones with lids currently.

I was actually using an enamel camping dish as a tea boat for a while - it was a good size for it and has a funny but nice blue with white speckle pattern. But, because its so heat conductive I figured it was probably sucking the heat away from my pot through any standing water pretty efficiently so I stopped. I'd love to find a reproduction of the carp image cup/plate for camping though.

wave_code wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:33 am

I have a few enamel cups that were picked up as souvenirs, but haven't gotten any gaiwan ones with the lid like these. I had looked at them occasionally but most modern reproductions or new ones tend to have cultural revolution propaganda or Mao on them which.... yeah. though I've seen a couple that have a very 70's looking floral/double happiness image. I can't vouch for the quality of the enamel on any of those though.

I haven't been able to find any new designs besides Mao and double-happiness, either. I would not be surprised to discover that the same factory was producing all of them, honestly. It might be a "filter bubble" thing, though -- it took me forever to convince Google that I did indeed want to see pictures of Chinese enamel mugs.

It seems like with a lot of the older ones, the focus was on the calligrapher -- most of the ones I see online are text-only. A few landscapes, though.

One thing I've noticed is that there seem to be two main lid styles, the plain (sometimes with lettering) and the color-fade. Were those styles available at the same time, or did the color-fade come later?

Also, more fish.