Using Gold To Repair Ceramics

Ceramic materials boast high surface energy and wet easily.

Using gold to repair ceramics.

After mixing you have 3 minutes at most after which the adhesive shall have dried. Broken pieces are glued back together using urushi lacquer derived from the sap of the chinese lacquer tree. Artisans began using lacquer and gold pigment to put shattered vessels back together. Save the liquid gold leaf for step 4.

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. Do this right before you are ready to glue the objects together as this mixture cures quickly. The gold join may seem too obvious compared to almost invisible western repairs. The glazed coating presents a problem though.

Even so you should clean and degrease the surface and use emery paper or sandblasting to do mechanical abrasion of the surface. 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. 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. However there are some fair.

Japanese kintsukuroi chawan. Some four or five centuries ago in japan a lavish technique emerged for repairing broken ceramics. This is a traditional japanese technique of repairing ceramics. 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.

Paint cannot stick to smooth glazed coating. 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. The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art.

Ceramic glazes preserve your pottery and tile s coloring and also adds a layer of protection from small scratches. This tradition known as kintsugi meaning golden seams or kintsukuroi golden repair is still going strong. If you are using mica powder mix equal parts mica powder and epoxy resin on scrap paper. You won t realize your full potential until you go.

Mix the epoxy or super glue if it requires mixing. The final layer of urushi is covered with fine gold powder and then burnished. Glue your ceramics together. If you are using liquid gold leaf you will only need the epoxy resin for step 3.

Kintsugi is the japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections.