Kintsugi, or Kintsukuroi is centuries-old Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with gold, or what I call a breath of my life with a new look, giving it a second chance in life. The 500 year old art of Kintsugi, which translates to ‘joining together with gold’, broken pottery, cups, plates, bowls, etc, is then repaired with lacquer and precious metal, then dusted with gold particles.
The Kintsugi technique is used with a special tree sap lacquer and then dusted with gold powdered silver, or platinum, designed to give a unique look to a much loved object, and give it a second life.
Nothing in life is ever truly broken, and that’s the ultimate knowledge behind the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi.
To throw it away, especially some antique that was handed down through the generations, would be a true tragedy. So to repair the antique with love and hand it down again shows that piece and it sentimental journey and history which included a few breaks, therefore the piece was saved and has added memories and a new lease in life.
It creates a new light for what I believe to be broken. I can make it whole again, and more beautiful than before.
I believe we could learn a lot about this technique, that is if something is broken it can be fixed that includes us human beings and all our flaws and breaks throughout life.
The story of Kintsugi is said to have begun in the 15th century. A military commander a Japanese man called Ashikaga Yoshimasa broke one of his much and adored Chinese tea bowls. Yoshimasa had it sent away to be repaired upon the tea bowls return, Yoshimasa was disgraced to find that it had been mended with ugly metal staples. Yoshimasa was angered by the repair, and demanded a better alternative be thought of to repair his much loved Chinese tea bowl.
“What Kintsugi teaches us not to hide our broken heart and our broken pieces of our life. Kintsugi really does bejewel a really important part of the object’s history exactly like in life we break and heal we, grow and flourish, we change and age and are still beautiful but broken held together by the memories of life and broken pieces the same as the broken pottery.”
Kintsugi: Not only is there no attempt to hide the damage, but the repair is literally illuminated… a kind of physical expression of the spirit of mushin….Mushin is often literally translated as “no mind,” but carries connotations of fully existing within the moment, of non-attachment, of equanimity amid changing conditions. …The vicissitudes of existence over time, to which all humans are susceptible, could not be clearer than in the breaks, the knocks, and the shattering to which ceramic ware too is subject. This poignancy or aesthetic of existence has been known in Japan as mono no aware, a compassionate sensitivity, or perhaps identification with, [things] outside oneself. — Christy Bartlett, Flickwerk: The Aesthetics of Mended Japanese Ceramic
Written By Amanda Wright-Tabone
Copyright © Amanda Wright-Tabone
Edited by Emily Tabone
(pleased not copy and part of this work without explcity permission from the author)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kintsugi: The Centuries-Old Art of Repairing Broken Pottery with Gold (via MyModernMet.com)
Haunted Old And Beautiful 