BEHIND THE SCENES OF 7 CLASSIC SHANGHAI HOUSEWARES

Patricia Marx – American writer – once said: ‘New York maybe the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai doesn’t even sit down, and not just because there’s no room’.

We all know how intense and fast our life here is, that’s why we understand that you rarely have time to stop and notice the little things that make this city so unique!

These items of everyday material culture that the locals – especially the elderly ones – employ in housework, cleaning, cooking and entertainment are more than mere disposable objects. They represent one of the ways to understand the peculiar lifestyles and traditions of various places and people. A great number of these household items and daily necessities come from the handiwork of anonymous craftsmen, who have learned their skills through family.

1.BAMBOO STEAMERS

There used to be over 100 makers of bamboo steamers providing over 100 kinds of products in Shanghai. Now there are very few of them and the customers are mainly individuals or eatery owners; in some rare cases they are used as movie props.

Mr Wei, 92, bamboo artisan, describes the rules of making bamboo steamers:

“Start working after breakfast; prepare the material by sawing the bamboo into sections and slicing them into appropriate sizes according to the amount of steamers to make for that day; finish all the sawing and slicing by noon and begin making steamers in the afternoon; make sure that all the prepared bamboo slices have been made into steamers by nightfall; in this way the expected yield of the day will be a dozen steamers or 5-6 small ones".

2.BAMBOO BASKETS

Picture source:Shanghai Housewares; Photo by Zhou Qi

There are several different methods of basket weaving.

Mr Zhao, 78, bamboo artisan, says ‘ A basket – big or small – costs roughly the same amount of materials. In the case of small baskets, I can make one in two hours after the bamboo slices are prepared. I can make three to four a day. The trickiest part is of course preparing the bamboo slices, which are not buyable. I have to cut bamboos into slices and polish them individually to remove roughness’.

3.WOODEN BUCKETS

Mr Yang, the artisan of circular objects from Qibao Town in Minhang District, makes one item a day to ensure quality. According to the traditional method, the wooden slabs are to be joined with bamboo pegs, but the present practice in most cases is to glue the slabs together.

He usually uses Chinese fir – a soft timber – while some other kinds of timber are too hard to be worked on with tools. Timber with few gnarls is preferred, because items made from such timber are good-looking and resistant to water leakage. All the timber must be sun - dried for a month, and if it gets damp halfway through the work, it has to be taken out on a fine day for a thorough sun - drying.

In the past there were lots of practical uses for wooden buckets (for example - storing rice) , and a wok had a wooden lid.

A piece of advice from the artisan before washing feet in such basin: ' Put some cold water in the new basin and let it be; the wood will expand a little after absorbing water, so the basin gets even tighter and won’t leak at all’.

4.IRON WOKS

Iron woks are easily heated, non – deformable and contain no harmful chemicals. The wrought smiths make them completely by hand. The working procedure is quite simple: prepare the design, draw out the lines, cut out a sheet of iron and hammer away. This trade requires both skills and strength.

5.TIN PANS AND SPOONS

Picture source:Shanghai Housewares; by Zhou Qi

The work of tinker doesn’t require much strength; instead the tinkering needs a lot of clever skills.

Some common objects are so frequently produced that their sizes are already in the mind of the master.More complicated objects require a design first.

6.HOMESPUN CLOTH

The elderly locals prefer homespun cloth which is durable and comfortable.

In the past, the local girls learned weaving and embroidery at the age of 10.They wove cloth from home-grown and hand – picked cotton, which was spun into threads and dyed the desired color in a dye-house.

Weaving requires a good memory, because all the patterns must be memorized. Therefore, a person with a clever mind will do well in weaving.

The preparation for weaving work, threading, takes 3 - 4 people a whole day to accomplish. The trickiest part of weaving is to do with the complexity of patterns, as the weaver tends to blunder over the pedaling and shuttling procedures. A simple pattern requires only two pedals, a moderate pattern four, and the most complex pattern must be handled with up to five pedals. For a single day, the weaver can produce 4.3 meters of cloth. The finished cloth must be washed , sun-dried and then kept in chests.

Usually a piece of homespun cloth can be used to make two pieces of clothing.

It can also be used to make bedsheets, diapers, aprons and sleeves or even shoes.

7.STRAW SLIPPERS

Straw weaving is a family art in small towns like Xuhang Town.

It takes at least a day to make straw slippers. If they have fancy design – for example: a lot of ornaments, it will take two days to finish a pair. Shoe – making is not for everyone, as some people are only capable of making straw bags, because they are easily done with one hand. Shoes are more difficult and must be worked on with the use of both hands.

All the yellow straws are grown locally.They are green when freshly harvested, and can’t be used for weaving until they have been stashed indoors for at least 6 months after being completely sun-dried. They are dyed into whichever colors you can name at special dye-house.

A few suggestions where to find these classic housewares

1.Zhujiajiao Bamboo Shop

32 Sijingyuan Road, Zhujiajiao Town, Qingpu District

7 am – 7 pm

2.Xinchang Tinker Shop

207 Xinchang Street, Xinchang Town, Pudong New Area

7 am – 6 pm

3.Pudong Homespun Cloth Shop

49 Hongxi Road, Xinchang Town, Pudong New Area

10 am – 6 pm

4.Xinchang Straw Weavers’ Commune Room 311, 1568 Xinjianyi Road, Xuhang Town Cultural Center, Jiading District

8 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday

5.Yang the Cooper (wooden bucket shop)

1 F 11 Xujialong, Qibao Town, Minhang District

9 am – 9 pm

Information source

Shanghai Housewares by Zhou Qi, Tongji University Press