kintsugi

American  

[kin-tsoo-gee] / kɪnˈtsu gi /

noun

1. Also called kintsukuroi.  a traditional Japanese pottery repair technique in which lacquer mixed with precious metals, especially gold, is used to fill cracks and replace missing pieces.

   A 300-year old vase repaired with kintsugi was on display.

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Etymology

Origin of kintsugi

First recorded in 2005–10; from Japanese: literally “gold repair, gold joinery”

Example Sentences

These works are Impressionistic, displaying washes of scenes featuring elements like lily pads and flowers, some of them incorporating gold leaf as an accent in reference to the Japanese kintsugi technique.

From Los Angeles Times

The restaurant is unapologetically gilded, from the walls to the Japanese kintsugi–inspired plates, which reference the tradition of repairing broken pottery with gold.

From Salon

Marie Kondo reflects on some elements of Japanese culture—kintsugi, umami, the kyureki calendar—that have informed both her life and her work.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Kondo illustrates mottainai through art forms that evolved from the spirit of preservation—including kintsugi, or the painstaking process of repairing broken pottery with a combination of lacquer and gold.

From The Wall Street Journal

A shattered Japanese kintsugi bowl is a newly added visual metaphor of their relationship, as is Dawn’s attempt to fix it with Krazy glue, a wink-wink at her emotional volatility.

From Los Angeles Times