Antique metal bowl or just junk?

[carnaaron]

I was at a garage sale today and saw this bowl, what really made me like it was the Chinese characters on the bottom, it seems to be made of some kind of metal and painted over, and where the paint has chipped on the edges there is some rust. I cannot find any information on the manufacturer. Do I have an antique or is it just modern junk?

Pictures:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/689/img0042nbm.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/40/img0043zc.jpg/

Thanks guys!

[sapphire]

Welcome carnaaron!  No expert here, but I think with the Made in China and the size (20 cm), you're likely looking at something fairly recent.  Not 'old', but I wouldn't call it 'junk' as you already said you like it therefore it has value to you......and that is often the most important part for many.

[chirineko]

a quick search on google comes up with "wenling jinma' who make melamine dinnerware. it says they were established in 2006 but i didn't find the same design, it was tricky to find any decent pics as they seem to do mostly export pieces. but yours seems kinda shiny, like enamel over metal? hmm.

edit - forgot to add, i think the first character says "zhong", but can't read the rest lol

[KC]

I can't zoom in enough to give an opinion...but if it says Made In China....not that old!