Tips & Trick

Broken pottery? Try Kintsugi!

Every now and again, we receive letters from our lovely customers, expressing sadness over a broken City to Cottage piece they ordered, and have been cherishing for a while.

With the nature of the material we use, comes the possibility of breakage. We do our utmost to work our clay into as strong a piece as possible, however, breakage in transit or during use is inevitable.

Now, we do operate on a 100% return & refund policy of course, because we would like to ensure you only enjoy the very very best we have to offer. But if you are feeling crafty, there might be something out there for you to try.

Enter – Kintsugi.

MoraApproved Kintsugi Kit – and the results pictured – Photo belongs to MoraApproved

 

The Japanese art of ‘golden repair’ is a pottery repair method that honours the piece’s unique history by emphasising, not hiding, the break.

When a 15th-century shogun broke his favourite tea bowl, he sent it to China to get it repaired, however, he was more than unhappy with the unsightly solution of pins. His local craftsmen came us with the idea of adding a kind of lacquer with gold powder, and they actually ended up making the bowl looking more valuable and unique. This repair elevated the fallen bowl back to its place as shogun’s favourite and prompted a whole new art form.

They found that imperfections are in fact gifts to be worked with, not shames to be hidden.

Our favourite repair kits on Etsy

MoraApproved Kintsugi Repair Kit

Advertised as the original kintsugi repair kit, you know you are in for something extraordinary when the kit is on display at the Rijks Museum (National Museum) in Amsterdam.

People reviewed it was easy to use and cleanup, the instructions are detailed, and that it is super fun to work with. They do mention, however, that to retain the gold colour it is not advised to place items in the dishwasher.

So be careful, as our originally dishwasher safe ceramics will become hand wash only after you ‘kintsugied’ it.

KintsugiPlanet DIY Kintsugi Kit

The quantity in this bag is enough for several repairs. With this kit, please bear in mind that your final piece will not be suitable for food use, only decoration.

KintsugiSupplies Professional Kit

This one ships from Japan, so you know it’s the real deal. It comes with a 169 pages long PDF booklet, that also includes about 145 photos, and shipping says to be also included in the price.

It has lacquer, mixing medium, brushes, mixing palette knife, polishing stones and mawata, a specialized material.

The kintsugi approach makes the most of what already is, highlights the beauty of what we do have, flaws and all, rather than leaving us eternally grasping for more, different, other, better.

Would you give kintsugi a try? Have you used this technique already? Let us know in the comments!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LET'S SHOP