Dear friends,
Today, April 8th, marks a solar eclipse and a new moon. Did you see the solar eclipse? Today is the day of the new moon, so I would like to talk about my recent favorite crescent tea bowl.
The crescent-shaped Kintsugi on the bottom of the bowl.
A couple of years ago, I brought back tea bowls from Japan, particularly for my workshop, and I found a beautiful crescent-shaped hole faintly visible at the bottom of one tea bowl. It had been left untouched for quite some time. At the end of last year, I showed it to the Kintsugi artist, makomako, and she showed strong interest because Kintsugi involves repairing broken items with urushi lacquer and gold, and she couldn't work on something perfect.
She gazed at the tea bowl and asked me, "What color do you prefer? light gold, dark gold, or silver?" I knew that various metal powders were used in Kintsugi, but all I could think of was gold. Every time I talk to her, I am reminded of the depth of Kintsugi. This time, we chose silver for the bowl.
Repairs using Kintsugi are not inexpensive and require a long process, especially when using authentic traditional methods. The aesthetic sense of the Kintsugi artist also determines the outcome. I trusted her aesthetic sense and entrusted everything to her.
When I enjoyed matcha with the tea bowl for the first time after waiting for a couple of months, the repaired bowl appeared with green clouds over the silver crescent moon at the bottom, which pleased me.
Green clouds over the silver crescent moon at the bottom
Along with other Kintsugi work examples, I also shared the story of this tea bowl at the event "Ceramics and Kintsugi" held last month. When serving matcha, I asked everyone which tea bowl they would prefer to drink with. Consequently, many people chose this tea bowl. I initially thought this bowl was flawed and would never be used, but Kintsugi taught me that imperfection is not the end; it can be transformed into something beautiful.
Makomako explains the process of Kintsugi
makomako shows gold powder
The word "crescent" comes from the Latin word "crescere," which means "to grow" in English.
Even if the crescent moon isn't visible in the sky, enjoying matcha in the crescent tea bowl reminds me that something negative can be transformed into something wonderful. Someday, I would like to serve matcha in the crescent Kintsugi tea bowl to you.
