Japanese Ceramic Repair Technique

The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art.

Japanese ceramic repair technique.

The translation from japanese of kintsugi or kintsukuroi means golden joinery or repair with gold where the gold powder is applied on lacquer some refer to it as kintsugi art with a metaphor of kintsugi life re birth or wabi sabi philosophy this technique transforms broken ceramic or pottery into beautiful. Some four or five centuries ago in japan a lavish technique emerged for repairing broken ceramics. Japanese kintsukuroi chawan. It dates from the 15th century.

More than merely a craft technique kintsugi is an outgrowth of the japanese philosophy of wabi sabi a belief in the beauty of imperfections. This tradition known as kintsugi meaning golden seams or kintsukuroi golden repair is still going strong. Most repairs hide themselves the goal is usually to make something as good as new. Kintsugi proposes that repair can make things better than new.

Subtle kintsugi repairs on this 19th century glazed. Artisans began using lacquer and gold pigment to put shattered vessels back together. Kintsugi is a technique of repairing broken porcelain earthenware pottery and glass with resins and lacquers that come from trees.