24K Gold Kintsugi Arita Ware Bowl | The Moon's Second Light

Autumn Grasses on Arita Black Arita, in Kyushu, produced Japan's first porcelain in the early 1600s. This boat-shaped bowl rests on three feet and carries a crystalline black glaze flecked with blue-green, a dark ground for autumn grasses in colored enamels. The design combines star-shaped bellflowers, yellow blossoms, and pampas grass, with raised details made by itchin piping. A broad disc of gold in the well suggests a harvest moon. Shaped by Arita’s Legacy: This piece also comes from Arita ware, Japan’s first porcelain tradition. Prized for its luminous white body and refined hand-painted details, embodying the harmony of precision and quiet beauty. Learn more → Discover the Art and Craftsmanship of Arita Ware Porcelain Mizuno's Line in Maki-e and Roiro Broken cleanly in two, this bowl was restored over four months by Maki Mizuno, a lacquer artist who holds a degree in Lacquer Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts and supervised the depiction of kintsugi in a published manga. She rejoined the halves with natural urushi, building up the join in cured, polished layers. She then sprinkled 24K marufun (spherical gold powder) over the restored area in the maki-e manner and sealed it with a thin coat of raw urushi, making one durable layer. The final, most demanding stage was roiro: meticulous hand-polishing that gives the gold a rich, deep luster. Food-safe, the bowl can be used at the table. Two Golds on One Moon Two treatments of gold meet here: the original Arita moon, broad and matte, and a narrow, lustrous kintsugi line crossing it at an angle. Turned over, the bowl shows the line continuing beneath the base between its three feet. From the moonlit interior to that less visible detail, the work rewards years of close looking and use, and caring for it carries forward Arita's ceramic heritage and Japanese urushi artistry as Mizuno practices it today.