Japanese Ceramic Repair Technique

It dates from the 15th century.

Japanese ceramic repair technique.

Kintsugi proposes that repair can make things better than new. Poetically translated to golden joinery kintsugi or kintsukuroi is the centuries old japanese art of fixing broken pottery rather than rejoin ceramic pieces with a camouflaged adhesive the kintsugi technique employs a special tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold silver or platinum. Most repairs hide themselves the goal is usually to make something as good as new. 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. This tradition known as kintsugi meaning golden seams or kintsukuroi golden repair is still going strong. More than merely a craft technique kintsugi is an outgrowth of the japanese philosophy of wabi sabi a belief in the beauty of imperfections. Artisans began using lacquer and gold pigment to put shattered vessels back together.

Japanese kintsukuroi chawan. The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art. Kintsugi is a technique of repairing broken porcelain earthenware pottery and glass with resins and lacquers that come from trees.