Japanese Art Ceramic Gold

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.

Japanese art ceramic gold.

Sackler gallery in washington d c. The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art. Nothing is ever truly broken that s the philosophy behind the ancient japanese art of kintsugi which repairs smashed pottery by using beautiful seams of gold. Kintsugi 金継ぎ golden joinery also known as kintsukuroi 金繕い golden repair is the japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold silver or platinum a method similar to the maki e technique.

We restore ceramic objects implementing the japanese art of broken pottery repair kintsugi kintsukuroi using 23 5k gold and lacquer or our proprietary developed process and materials with encapsulated gold effect metals this lesson is intended to show the difference between the two kintsugi implementations methods and to learn how it is done. Choose your kintsugi object. 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. Choose the ceramic you wish to apply the japanese gold repair to.

The origins of kintsugi are uncertain but it s likely that the practice became commonplace in japan during the late 16th or early 17th centuries noted louise cort curator of ceramics at the smithsonian s freer gallery of art and arthur m. Its beginnings are often associated with the famed tale of a 15th century japanese military ruler whose antique. How to make kintsugi pottery art. Kintsugi is the japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections you can create an even stronger more.

As a philosophy it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object rather than something. This lesson shows only the highlights of the. This traditional japanese art uses a precious metal liquid gold liquid silver or lacquer dusted with powdered gold to bring together the pieces of a broken pottery item and at the same time enhance the breaks. To break your ceramic place the item in a paper bag then lightly tap the object with a hammer until you hear it has broken.