What Is Kintsugi? Meaning & History of Golden Repair

How does kintsugi repair broken ceramics, and what does it mean?

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with urushi lacquer and powdered gold (sometimes silver), so the mended cracks become shining seams instead of hidden flaws. Linked with wabi-sabi, it treats the repair as part of the piece's story, and today it is a metaphor for resilience.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer and powdered gold, so that the mended cracks become shining seams instead of hidden flaws. The idea behind it – that a piece can be more beautiful for having been broken and repaired – has carried kintsugi far beyond Japan. Here is what kintsugi is, where it came from, what it means, and how the Limoges porcelain house Bernardaud brings it to the table today.

Chinese Jian ware tea bowl with hare's fur glaze and a Japanese lacquer repair along the rim — Bowl with “Hare’s Fur” Decoration, China, 11th–12th century. Stoneware with iron-oxide glaze (Jian ware); Japanese lacquer repair. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1925. Public domain (CC0).

What Is Kintsugi?

Kintsugi is a traditional technique for repairing pottery with urushi, the natural lacquer made from the sap of the lacquer tree, together with metal powder – usually gold, sometimes silver. The broken pieces are joined with lacquer and left to dry. Thin lines of colored lacquer are then painted along the fractures, and the metal powder is sprinkled over them, leaving a fine line of gold where the break used to be.

Lacquer is a strong adhesive, and in Japan it had been used to mend broken pots since prehistoric times. What makes kintsugi different is that it does not try to hide the damage. It draws attention to it.

A Short History of Kintsugi

No one knows exactly where kintsugi began. The best-known story is a legend from the late 15th century. Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the shogun, broke his favorite Chinese tea bowl and sent it to China to be repaired. It came back held together with metal staples, the usual Chinese method of the time. The repair worked, but it was not beautiful, and Japanese craftsmen are said to have looked for a more graceful solution. Historians are unsure how much of the story is true, but it fits the timing: kintsugi does not seem to have spread widely until after the 15th century, around the time the Japanese tea ceremony was taking shape.

13th-century Chinese Longquan celadon bowl mended with gold lacquer repairs — Bowl, China, 13th century. Stoneware with celadon glaze (Longquan ware); gold lacquer repairs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1917. Public domain (CC0).

By the 16th century, repairs in gold lacquer had become fashionable. Many of the pieces that survive are exactly the kind of objects the story describes: Chinese and Korean bowls treasured in Japan and used for tea. The celadon bowl above was made in China in the 13th century; its gold patches were added later, when it was mended and kept in use.

Kintsugi and the Tea Ceremony

The tea ceremony gave kintsugi its home. The tea master Sen Rikyū established wabi – beauty in deliberate simplicity – and sabi – appreciation of the old and faded – as the ceremony's ideals, and tea bowls, tea jars and caddies were handled, admired and passed down for generations. A cherished bowl that broke was not thrown away. It was repaired in gold and returned to use, often valued even more for its history.

Japanese red Raku tea bowl (chawan) from the 18th century with gold lacquer repairs — Red Raku Tea Bowl (Chawan), Japan, 18th century. Earthenware with red slip under milky glaze (Raku ware, unknown workshop); gold lacquer repairs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Howard Mansfield Collection, Gift of Howard Mansfield, 1936. Public domain (CC0).

17th-century Japanese Shigaraki stoneware tea jar with gold lacquer repairs — Shigaraki Tea Jar (Chatsubo), Japan, 17th century. Stoneware with natural ash glaze; gold lacquer repairs (Kyoto ware, Shigaraki type). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015. Public domain (CC0).

Kintsugi Meaning: Beauty in What Is Broken

Kintsugi is closely linked with wabi-sabi, the Japanese way of seeing beauty in imperfection and impermanence. Instead of pretending a piece was never broken, kintsugi makes the repair part of its story. That is why the kintsugi meaning has traveled far beyond ceramics: today it is often used as a metaphor for resilience – the idea that the things that have broken us, and how we mend, can become part of what makes us beautiful.

Bernardaud Kintsugi – Sarkis: The Golden Seam on Limoges Porcelain

The artist Sarkis created Kintsugi – Sarkis for Bernardaud, the Limoges porcelain house founded in 1863. In his words: "I am fascinated by this Japanese art called 'Kintsugi' from the 16th century, which is to make visible repairs on ceramic made with a mix of lacquer and gold giving an even greater aesthetic value."

The pieces are not broken and repaired. They are new Limoges porcelain, decorated with lines of gold that trace the look of kintsugi seams across plates, cups, bowls and vases. Because the decoration is gold, treat them as you would any precious-metal porcelain: keep them out of the microwave and wash them gently by hand. Like most Bernardaud, many pieces are made to order in Limoges – please allow 3–4 weeks for delivery.