24K Gold Kintsugi Arita Lidded Bowl | Swans Upon Blue Water
Japan's First Porcelain Arita ware has defined Japanese porcelain since the early 1600s, when the country's first porcelain kilns were built in Kyushu. Its hand-painted enamels went on to influence European tastes. This three-legged covered vessel, a form far rarer than plates or cups, carries on the tradition of painting on luminous white porcelain. 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 Gold, Vermilion, and Blue The exterior kintsugi seams are finished in 24-karat gold and polished to a traditional sheen. Inside, the fracture is traced in quiet black urushi. The restored feet are sealed in vermilion-colored urushi, and the vessel's original lines are overlaid in blue urushi and polished until they resemble still water. Lacquer artist Maki Mizuno, honored in art exhibitions in Shiga Prefecture, painted a swan and cygnet in urushi-e and maki-e over the course of the four-month restoration process, using natural urushi and methods that have been refined in Japan for centuries. A Water Garden Kept The adornment reads the lid as a pond: blue-lacquered lines gather into water, and the swan and cygnet rest upon it among painted blossoms — possible only because this vessel broke where it did. Its collector alone meets the second restoration, a black urushi line inside, revealed when the lid is raised. Its next custodian joins a sequence of hands — potter, painter, lacquer artist — keeping Arita's porcelain line unbroken.