Broken pieces bring luck
Annoying when the favorite cup or the ten-piece expensive service gets broken. But even art can be created from broken glass.
Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese method of repairing broken ceramics. What is special about it is that Kintsugi does not try to hide the apparent flaws of the repair, but rather places them in the foreground through the use of gold or silver pigments. The result is a completely new aesthetic and above all an appreciation of the original object.
The origin is a tea bowl
It is said that Kintsugi goes back to a Shōgun of the 15th century. After he accidentally broke one of his Chinese tea bowls, he sent it to China for repair and was disappointed by the result. He then suggested a more aesthetically pleasing method to make his favorite bowl look good again. The result was Kintsugi. In a long process, broken or cracked ceramics are repaired, whereby the Japanese lacquer “urushi” is applied in several layers, powdered with either gold or silver pigments and then polished.
Repair instead of disposal
Thus broken pieces complement each other to form a new whole, which in most cases is in no way inferior to the beauty of the original. A beautiful thought, isn’t it? But the most important thing about Kintsugi is not the physical appearance of the object itself, but its beauty and individual meaning.
Kintsugi is not only an evidence of craftsmanship – it also gives an insight into the appreciation of things in Japan. Repair instead of disposal.
In today’s “throwaway society”, where sustainability is becoming increasingly important, this is a fantastic alternative.
Our tip: Repair instead of just throwing away – maybe you’ll get a great work of art!
