Japanese Art Fixing With 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 fixing with gold. Although kintsugi repair makes it appear as though the original piece was mended with gold the original process is essentially a form of lacquer 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. Its beginnings are often associated with the famed tale of a 15th century japanese military ruler whose antique. Kintsugi is a japanese art form for repairing pottery with gold.

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. Sackler gallery in washington d c. As a philosophy it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object rather than something. 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.

Disappointed the shogun enlisted a japanese craftsmen to come up with a more aesthetically pleasing solution and kintsugi was born. Kintsugi is a centuries old japanese art of repairing broken pottery and transforming it into a new work of art with gold the traditional metal used in kintsugi. The japanese art of fixing broken pieces of pottery with gold. The name of the technique is derived from the words kin golden and tsugi joinery which translate to mean golden repair.

Japanese kintsukuroi chawan. 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. 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.