What does Kintsugi mean?
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form in which breaks and repairs are treated as part of the object's history. Broken ceramics are carefully mended by artisans with a lacquer resin mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. The repairs are visible — yet somehow beautiful. Kintsugi means "golden joinery" in Japanese.
How do I make Kintsugi?
- Step 1: Choose your Kintsugi object. Choose the ceramic you wish to apply the Japanese gold repair to. ...
- Step 2: Prepare the adhesive. If you are using the colour powder, mix equal parts colour powder and epoxy resin on scrap paper. ...
- Step 3: Glue your ceramics together. ...
- Step 4: Create gold lines.
What is the meaning of Kintsukuroi?
Kintsukuroi (“golden mend”) is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery using lacquer resin laced with gold or silver. As well as a nifty form of repair, kintsukuroi has a deeper philosophical significance.
How do Japanese mend broken?
Translated to “golden joinery,” Kintsugi (or Kintsukuroi, which means “golden repair”) is the centuries-old Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a special lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Beautiful seams of gold glint in the cracks of ceramic ware, giving a unique appearance to the piece.
Who invented Kintsugi?
The kintsugi technique may have been invented around the fifteenth century, when Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate after breaking his favourite cup of tea sent it to China to get it repaired.
Do you want to become an expert on Kintsugi? Learn more with our ultimate Guide to Kintsugi.