• Black Kintsugi tea bowl repaired with blown glass using the Yobitsugi technique, the most challenging of Kintsugi techniques.
  • Jet-black Japanese tea bowl with Kintsugi box
  • Black Kintsugi tea bowl repaired with blown glass using the Yobitsugi technique, the most challenging of Kintsugi techniques, presented in a paulownia wood box.
  • Tokyo, Japan
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Taku Nakano

Kintsugi Tea Bowl "Jet Black Lightning Orion" with a Paulownia Wood Box

Kintsugi Tea Bowl "Jet Black Lightning Orion" with a Paulownia Wood Box

$850 USD
$850 USD
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Introducing the "Jet Black Lightning" series by Taku Nakano, a world-renowned master of the Japanese art of kintsugi. This unique collection includes a matcha bowl named "Orion," which combines jet black pottery with blown glass using the challenging kintsugi technique called "Yobitsugi." This method not only highlights the artisan's skill but also embodies a deep Japanese philosophy that finds beauty in damage and imperfection, demonstrating resilience through repair.

Each piece in the "Jet Black Lightning" series is a meticulously handcrafted work of art, transcending mere utility to become a profoundly special choice for those who find personal or philosophical significance in ownership.

The "Orion" matcha bowl is carefully packaged in a paulownia wood box with kintsugi detailing, enhancing its presentation as a meaningful gift while ensuring its safe delivery. Gifting such a kintsugi piece represents more than just the act of giving a beautiful item; it symbolizes overcoming adversity, such as recovering from illness or reviving a once-broken relationship.

This series is perfect for those who view art not just as decoration but as an emotional journey and a reflection of life's hopeful perseverance.

Kintsugi

Originating from Japan's distinctive historical and cultural context, Kintsugi is a traditional technique for elegantly repairing broken ceramics. In Japan, a land frequently struck by natural disasters like earthquakes and typhoons, the practice of Kintsugi has evolved, symbolizing the people's resilience in overcoming challenges and emerging stronger and more beautiful. This philosophy is not just about repairing but also enhancing objects, making them stronger and more attractive than before.

Kintsugi embodies the aesthetic of "Wabi-Sabi," appreciating the beauty in imperfection and the passage of time. The "Mottainai" ethos, promoting recycling and respect for objects, has been a part of Japanese culture since the Edo period. This belief, that everything deserves a second chance and that overcoming difficulties leads to greater strength and beauty, is deeply interwoven with the Kintsugi technique and culture.

More than just a repair method, Kintsugi represents the synergy of Japanese spirit and culture, offering not only physical restoration but also therapeutic benefits and underscoring the profound bond between objects and people. As a symbol of Japan's history, culture, and spiritual fortitude, Kintsugi adds new value to broken items, making them significant in our sustainable modern world.

Product Details

  • Quantity: 1
  • Dimension: Diameter 10 cm (3.9 in) × Height 11 cm (4.3 in)
  • Material: Ceramic
  • Origin: Made in Tokyo, Japan
  • Brand: Taku Nakano

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This item may take up to 4 weeks for delivery.

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Kintsugi Pottery Collection

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Elegant black kintsugi bowl with golden joinery

Kintsugi: The Art of Embracing Imperfection and Creating Timeless Beauty

Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese restoration technique that involves repairing broken ceramics with lacquer and adorning the repaired areas with gold. Originating in the 15th century, this craft reflects the Japanese spirit of cherishing objects and embodies the aesthetics of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in imperfection and transience. Far from being mere repair, kintsugi creates new value, and its philosophy and artistry continue to captivate people around the world today.

Side View of Kintsugi Bowl "Vermilion Crackle"

The Philosophy and Meaning of Kintsugi: Embracing Beauty in Imperfection

Kintsugi is an art form and philosophy that embraces imperfection and the damage caused by the passage of time, treating them as elements of beauty and intrinsic value. This technique teaches us that, much like a piece of pottery, human lives also encounter hardships, sustain scars, and sometimes break. However, these scars are proof of the challenges we have overcome, and imperfections are a unique form of beauty that belongs to each individual. Kintsugi invites us not to strive for perfection but to accept imperfection, discovering new beauty and value within it. This resonates with the modern need for self-acceptance and emotional healing—an essential concept often forgotten in today’s world.

A Kintsugi master creates exquisite Kintsugi art.

Taku Nakano: The Kintsugi Master of Japan

Taku Nakano is a ceramic and kintsugi artist based in Omotesando, Tokyo, with over 2,000 students. Utilizing uncommon materials and techniques in the ceramics field—such as pure gold, platinum, titanium, colored slip glazes, and the art of retsu (crack decoration)—he creates kintsugi pottery that embodies the philosophy symbolized by kintsugi: "stronger and more beautiful than before it broke" and "second chances for both objects and life." Through kintsugi, Nakano conveys not merely the restoration of vessels but also an aesthetic that embraces the history and imperfections of objects, along with a philosophy of regeneration and hope.

Jet-black Japanese tea bowl with Kintsugi box

The Meaning Behind Gifting Kintsugi: Celebrating Recovery and Resilience

People from around the world visit Taku Nakano's studio in Tokyo, seeking his kintsugi ceramics as gifts for loved ones who have overcome illness, injury, or hardship, or as mementos to reconcile with a partner or deepen bonds with someone special. For those who have faced challenges or pain, kintsugi ceramics symbolize resilience and strength.

Due to the nature of kintsugi, which involves repairing broken vessels with authentic lacquer and gold, it is exceedingly rare in Japan to find ceramics restored in this traditional manner available for purchase. However, Nakano, both a ceramicist and kintsugi artist, creates his works by first crafting vessels from clay, intentionally breaking them, and then repairing them with genuine lacquer and gold to produce his kintsugi pieces.

Each of Taku Nakano's kintsugi creations is a one-of-a-kind work of art, available exclusively through his studio or online via Millennium Gallery Japan.

Jet-black Japanese tea bowl, adorned with the exquisite golden repairs of kintsugi,

Taku Nakano

Taku Nakano is a potter who runs a ceramics studio in Tokyo. He creates unique ceramic pieces with a focus on cosmic motifs, crafting artworks in his own distinctive style. He also works as a Kintsugi master and was commissioned by the Georgian government to repair a wine jar, which was displayed as a symbolic object representing the meeting of Georgian wine culture and Japanese Kintsugi culture at the Georgian Wine Exhibition.

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