Pottery, Lacquer and Kintsugi
Over 12 years ago, my first teapot broke. An inestimated loss because we quickly become attached to these little things, which accompany us at every moment of our life ...
At the time, no social network, no community to share information. But a recent visit to the Cernuschi Museum in Paris had shown me an ancestral repair from Japan, where gold had given life to a chipped bowl. And I promised one day to bring my teapot back to life ... An empty promise ...
But ideas are still catching on ... And many years later, I found myself a master in Japan who for three months welcomes me every two weekends in Kamakura to teach me the basics of Kintsugi. An almost silent teaching because we did not speak the same language, but an unexpected teaching of good gestures, good textures.
And a new passion, after tea and its accessories, was born ... The passion of Japanese lacquer.
What a joy to see in your hands a cherished object come back to life, find its soul and its function, its daily use, and finally find itself embellished with its defects. Like a challenge to fate and the impermanence of things ...
My teapot has long since found its spout ... As many others ...
Kintsugi is first of all an art and a craft. It asks the craftsman to dedicate himself to the item to be repaired, because like all lacquer work, it requires time, patience and application.
Take your time for each gesture of repair, each application of lacquer, each brushstroke; wait for the lacquer to dry between each phase, often weeks, sometimes months; take care during every sanding, every dusting of gold ...
The simple repair of a crack can easily take several hours of work and several months of drying.
If you also mourn an accessory you cherished and you would like a repair using natural products according to traditional techniques , do not hesitate to contact me by email by attaching photos parts to be repaired and your wishes for the part.
I would be happy to send you a quote, clear and without surprises, for the repair of your favorite parts, and we will discuss the possibilities to repair and bring these objects back to life.
Arnaud