2026/04/21 19:59
Kintsugi is often described as permanent. But that word covers a range of things — and the honest answer depends on what kind of kintsugi we are talking about.Traditional honkintsugi (本金継ぎ), us...
2026/04/13 21:50
When a kintsugi piece is being repaired, there is a moment near the end of the process — after weeks of lacquer work — when the craftsperson has to decide what colour to finish in. Gold is the clas...
2026/04/08 20:34
Both use urushi lacquer and gold. Both leave visible lines. But kintsugi and yobitsugi are doing quite different things — and once you understand the distinction, you start to see them very differe...
2026/04/06 04:33
Kintsugi gets called 'meditative' a lot. But what does that actually mean, and is it true?The honest answer is yes — but not for the reasons people usually give. It is not calming because it connec...
2026/04/04 01:14
The plate arrived with a clean break — two pieces, the crack running diagonally across a painted floral motif in the Italian majolica tradition. The glaze was cream-white with a deep blue design, t...
2026/04/03 06:54
Buying a gift for someone who loves art is, in theory, simple. They appreciate beautiful things. They notice craft. They have opinions about objects. In practice, it is one of the more difficult gi...
2026/04/02 07:57
The phrase 'one of a kind' appears on a great many things that are not, in any meaningful sense, one of a kind. A factory ceramic with a slight variation in glaze. A print run of a thousand with th...
2026/04/01 08:07
It was not a particularly valuable plate.It had been bought at a small ceramics market, on a morning that had been grey and cold and had somehow turned into one of those unexpectedly good day...
2026/03/30 21:37
The Case for Kintsugi We live in an age of replacement. Something breaks, and the reflex is immediate: search for a new one, add it to the cart, wait two days for delivery. It is faster. It is...
2026/03/29 22:04
5 Repair Methods Compared — From Superglue to Kintsugi It happens to everyone. A favourite plate slips from a wet hand. A mug falls from a shelf. A bowl you have owned for twenty years meets t...
2026/03/28 11:56
The Traditional Gold Repair Process There is a particular kind of patience required to repair something the right way. Not the patience of waiting for glue to dry — that is just clock-watching...
2026/03/28 10:57
Wabi-Sabi: The Philosophy Behind the GoldYou cannot talk about kintsugi without talking about wabi-sabi (侵び寙び) — the Japanese aesthetic philosophy that finds beauty not in perfection, but in im...
2026/03/23 22:09
Imagine this: your favourite ceramic mug — the one you reach for every single morning — slips from your hands and shatters on the kitchen floor. Most of us would sweep up the pieces, say a quiet go...