Kintsugi
Kintsugi, golden joinery, also called kintsukuroi, golden repair, is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with urushi lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. It treats the break and the repair as part of the object's history, rather than something to hide.
Definition
The method is close to maki-e: lacquer joins the pieces and fills losses, and metal powder is applied to the visible seam. The result is a line of gold, silver or platinum running where the break was. Kintsugi is closely associated with ceramics for chanoyu, the tea ceremony, and it was applied to wares from outside Japan, including China, Vietnam and Korea.
Origin
One theory holds that kintsugi began when the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China for repair in the late 15th century, and it returned held together with metal staples, prompting Japanese craftsmen to find a better-looking method. Another view: the stapled bowl itself, named bakōhan for its large staples like a locust, was admired as beauty in broken things. Collectors grew so fond of the art that some were accused of breaking valuable pottery deliberately to have it repaired. In philosophy, kintsugi sits close to wabi-sabi, the acceptance of the flawed and imperfect, and to the Japanese valuing of the marks of use.
Key facts
| Meaning | Golden joinery |
|---|---|
| Materials | Urushi lacquer with gold, silver or platinum powder |
| Setting | Ceramics for the tea ceremony |
| Applied to | Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean wares |
How to identify it
- The seam. A raised or flush metallic line following the break.
- Lacquer or glue. In our handling, true lacquer repairs feel slightly warm and soft against the glaze; modern resin repairs with gold paint look flatter.
- Fills. Larger losses may be rebuilt in lacquer and gilded as a patch.
- Disclosure. We describe every repair, gold or not, in the condition notes.
Kinds of repair
Repairers distinguish three main kinds of kintsugi. In the crack method, gold dust and resin or lacquer attach broken pieces with little overlap or fill. In the piece method, where no replacement fragment is available, a missing part is built up entirely in gold or a gold and lacquer compound. In the joint-call method, yobitsugi, a fragment of similar shape from a different vessel replaces the missing piece, creating a patchwork. Kintsugi is distinct from staple repair, used in China, Europe and elsewhere, in which holes are drilled either side of a crack and metal staples bent to hold the pieces; the story of the stapled bowl sent back from China belongs to that tradition. In our handling, we record which kind of repair a piece has and where, because its extent matters as much as its beauty.
Where it appears in the collection
Repaired tea wares appear among the ceramics on the Japanese arts and antiques shelf. Our guide to kintsugi goes further, and our guide to karamono covers the Chinese bowls that were often mended this way.
Related entries
Sources
- Kintsugi, encyclopaedia entry, for the definition, materials, the Yoshimasa theory, bakōhan, wares from outside Japan, the philosophy, the kinds of repair and staple repair. wikipedia.org
Last reviewed 15 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.