I have always been drawn to pottery traditions from around the world, especially the ones that make you look at ceramics a little differently. Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, is one of them.
Instead of trying to hide a crack or pretend a piece was never broken, kintsugi does the opposite. The repair becomes part of the piece.
What is Kintsugi?
Kintsugi, which roughly translates to “golden joinery,” is a traditional Japanese technique used to repair broken ceramics. Traditionally, pieces are joined using urushi lacquer and the repaired lines are finished with powdered gold or other precious metals.
The technique developed in Japan centuries ago and became closely connected with the appreciation of ceramics, particularly treasured vessels used for tea.
What makes kintsugi so recognizable is that the cracks remain completely visible. A bowl that has been broken and repaired might have a network of gold lines running across its surface rather than an invisible repair.
And somehow, it can become even more interesting than it was before.
Why Are the Cracks Left Visible?
This is probably what I find most interesting about kintsugi.
Potters spend so much time trying to control clay: centering it, shaping it, drying it slowly, glazing it and hoping it survives the kiln. But ceramics are never completely predictable.
Pieces warp. Glazes move. Kilns do strange things. And sometimes pottery simply breaks.
Kintsugi takes something we would normally consider a flaw and makes it part of the final design. The repair records another chapter in the life of the object rather than erasing what happened to it.
Trying Kintsugi Myself
Of course, once I learned more about it, I wanted to try it myself.
Working with the broken pieces felt very different from making pottery from clay. Instead of deciding what I wanted the object to become, I had to work with what was already there.
I slowly matched the fragments, pieced everything back together and highlighted the repaired areas in gold.
It was surprisingly satisfying watching something that looked completely finished — in the bad sense of the word — become an object I wanted to keep again.
It also gave me a new appreciation for the imperfections that come with handmade ceramics. Sometimes the parts we would normally try to hide are what give an object its character.
Kintsugi and Handmade Pottery
You do not have to practice kintsugi to appreciate the idea behind it.
One of my favourite things about teaching pottery is seeing people discover that handmade does not mean perfect. A slightly uneven rim, fingerprints in the clay or a form that turns out differently from what you imagined can be exactly what makes a piece yours.
If learning about kintsugi has made you curious about working with clay yourself, I teach private wheel-throwing and handbuilding pottery classes through my studio in Surrey, BC. You have the opportunity to explore different pottery techniques including wheel throwing and handbuilding in a comfortable private studio. My workshops are beginner friendly and all materials including clay are included.
You can explore my pottery classes and make something with your own hands — hopefully without having to break it first.