Using Gold To Repair Ceramics

Kintsugi 金継ぎ golden joinery also known as kintsukuroi 金繕い golden repair is the japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold silver or platinum a method similar to the maki e technique.

Using gold to repair ceramics.

You won t realize your full potential until you go. Save the liquid gold leaf for step 4. Broken pieces are glued back together using urushi lacquer derived from the sap of the chinese lacquer tree. The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art.

Ceramic materials boast high surface energy and wet easily. Japanese kintsukuroi chawan. Once completed beautiful seams of gold glint in the conspicuous cracks of ceramic wares giving a one of a kind appearance to each repaired piece. After mixing you have 3 minutes at most after which the adhesive shall have dried.

Paint cannot stick to smooth glazed coating. Some four or five centuries ago in japan a lavish technique emerged for repairing broken ceramics. This technique transforms broken ceramic or pottery into beautiful art to it s its new life enhancing the break lines with gold giving the mended broken pottery. The gold join may seem too obvious compared to almost invisible western repairs.

If you are using mica powder mix equal parts mica powder and epoxy resin on scrap paper. Rather than rejoin ceramic pieces with a camouflaged adhesive the kintsugi technique employs a special tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold silver or platinum. As time goes on however you may need to repaint your ceramics to return them to their original luster. Of repairing ceramics with lacquer and gold is called gold lacquer repair.

If you are using liquid gold leaf you will only need the epoxy resin for step 3. This is a traditional japanese technique of repairing ceramics. Ceramic glazes preserve your pottery and tile s coloring and also adds a layer of protection from small scratches. The final layer of urushi is covered with fine gold powder and then burnished.

Kintsugi is the japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections. Glue your ceramics together. The glazed coating presents a problem though. Some refer to it as kintsugi art with a metaphor of kintsugi life re birth or wabi sabi philosophy.

Although kintsugi repair makes it appear as though the original piece was mended with gold the original process is essentially a form of lacquer art. The translation from japanese of kintsugi or kintsukuroi means golden joinery or repair with gold where the gold powder is applied on lacquer. Do this right before you are ready to glue the objects together as this mixture cures quickly. Mix the epoxy or super glue if it requires mixing.

Artisans began using lacquer and gold pigment to put shattered vessels back together.