That moment when you’re favorite cup falls apart in a few pieces or that porcelain vase from your grandmother… That’s pretty fucked up. Repair stuff like this is pretty hard and mostly it looks not that good at all. Ever heard of kintsugi?
The 400+ year old Japanese art of kintsugi (golden repair) or kintsukuroi (golden joinery) is a pottery repair method that celebrates the artifact’s unique history by emphasizing, not hiding, the break. An art form born from mottainai – the feeling of regret when something is wasted – the cracks are seamed with lacquer resin and powdered gold, silver, or platinum, and often reference natural forms like waterfalls, rivers, or landscapes. This method transforms the artifact into something new, making it more rare, beautiful, and storied than the original.
The story goes that kintsugi may have originated when in the late 15th century the emperor sent his damaged pottery back to China for repairs. When it returned repaired with metal staples, he ordered his craftsmen to come up with something more aesthetic, kintsugi (gold repair). This art became such a hype that some collectors deliberately started smashing valuable pottery so it could be repaired with the gold seams of kintsugi.
So now you know what to do next time. Keep the craftship alife!
