
(Image from lakesidepottery.com)
Here’s the whole Google response:
Kintsugi is the traditional Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using a special tree-sap lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Instead of hiding the cracks, this method highlights them to celebrate an object’s unique history and scars. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Philosophy and Meaning
- Wabi-sabi: Finding beauty in things that are imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.
- Mottainai: Feeling regret when something is wasted, leading to the reuse or repair of items.
- Life lesson: Teaching us that our own wounds and repairs make us stronger and more valuable rather than broken. [2, 3, 5, 6]
Repair Methods
- Crack method: Using gold dust and lacquer to glue clean breaks and hairline cracks back together.
- Piece method: Filling a missing missing chunk or hole entirely with gold and lacquer resin.
- Joint-call method: Using a mismatched piece from another broken object to patch a hole, creating a unique hybrid item. [3]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi
[2] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nPf1nGoBbXw
[3] https://mymodernmet.com/kintsugi-kintsukuroi/
[4] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wRGDAsTpBKs
[6] https://kintsugivillage.org/why-kintsugi/
(Contributed by Michael Kelly, H.W.)