Kintsugi Pottery

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery so the cracks become part of the design. Traditionally, the pieces are joined with lacquer mixed or dusted with powdered gold, leaving shining golden seams where the breaks used to be. The name means golden joinery. Instead of hiding the damage, kintsugi celebrates it, so the mended piece can end up more beautiful than before.

Kintsugi has been practised in Japan for centuries, and it's closely linked to wabi-sabi, the idea of finding beauty in things that are imperfect, worn or incomplete. A crack isn't the end of an object's story, just a new chapter. It's a lovely way of looking at pottery, and plenty of people find it's not a bad way of looking at life either.

The crack method is the classic. Broken pieces are glued back together and the joins are finished in gold, creating those fine golden lines.

The piece method is used when a chunk is missing. The gap is filled entirely with lacquer and gold, so a solid golden patch replaces the lost piece.

The joint-call method fills a gap with a fragment from a completely different pot, for a patchwork of patterns and colours.

Traditional kintsugi uses urushi, a natural lacquer made from tree sap, which takes weeks to cure and can irritate skin. Beginner kintsugi usually swaps it for modern resin or glue, finished with gold powder or gold paint.

First, you choose a ceramic pot. Then, yes, you break it. It's surprisingly satisfying. Your Activity Leader shows you how to piece the fragments back together with resin, clean up the joins and fill any little gaps. Once it's holding, you paint or dust the cracks with gold to bring out every seam. Gloves and eye protection are worn while working with the resin. You'll leave with a one-of-a-kind keepsake and a slightly smug sense of achievement.

Definitely. There's no pottery wheel or clay involved, and you don't need to be arty. Kintsugi is slow, careful and absorbing, which many people find calming. Wonky breaks are a bonus, because they give you more gold to play with. No two repaired pots ever look the same.

You might also like Wabi-Sabi Pottery, Pottery Wheel and Terrazzo.

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