Wire enamel art on display at Ruixiang Art Gallery

The enamel space in the Ruixiang Art Gallery in Minhang District offers visitors a chance to experience the unique charms of wire enamel art, an intangible cultural heritage of China.

In a process of pinching and attaching wires, infusing enamels into slots and kilning, enamels melt and cling to the metal workpiece, dazzle, then their colors turned dimensionally rich.

"I am deeply attached to the art," said a visitor surnamed Zhang. "I like pinching wires in particular, which requires patience. I took my daughter with me today. I hope she will like it as well."

To make a piece of wire enamel work, artists usually attach golden alumina oxide or bronze wires to a metal workpiece, fill the slots with enamel of different colors, then fire it in a kiln, polish, and gild it.

The art reached its peak during the Jingtai Period (1450-1457) in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and frequently used blue as its major color, hence its other name jingtai lan (景泰蓝).

It originated from southern France about 3,000 years ago, and reached China through trade and cultural exchanges along the ancient silk road.