Authentic Kintsugi Matcha bowl, White birch Nunobiki ware
Product Description <About Kintsugi Part> After carefully joining the broken pieces using urushi (Japanese natural lacquer), finishing with the 24-karat gold powder by sprinkling to decorate the joined parts. In order to enhance the shape of the traditional Matcha bowl with the Kintsugi, the vessel is carefully polished with polishing powder putting on the fingers at last. <About the Original Vessel> 1000 to 1200 years ago, from the Hakuho Period to the Heian period, around the Nunobiki Mountains in Shiga prefecture, unglazed pottery and green colored pottery was fired. The green colored glaze, made in imitation of Tang Dynasty pottery of ancient China is beautiful pottery. The pottery producing region on the east shore of Lake Biwa (next to Kyoto) prospered, but then pottery production ceased for over 1000 years. In the 1970s, while groping for a new world of pottery, young ceramic artist Taro Kojima became enchanted with this green colored pottery and struggled to create a modern version of it. He developed a process for it, and developed a technique for creating a deep, transparent feeling using varied colors that transform in the kiln to create pictures. The pottery was given the name Nanasai Tenmoku, and it had abundant colors that could express natural scenes such as plants and scenery in pictures that were ground breaking. Nunobiki ware opened up a world of new picture skills with the Nanasai Tenmoku technique. Although this valuable Nunobiki ware has been broken by the earthquake, in order to avoid wasting the diligent efforts their craftsmen put into handmade piece, we decided to revive them as new Kintsugi pieces.. <Thoughts Behind the Piece> This Matcha bowl is inspired by a lake and a tree by the lakeside. At first glance, it appears as if the branches and the Kintsugi line are like one piece, but we dared to apply Kintsugi like leaving the original natural scene. On the other side and inside of the vessel, on the contrary, we made the contrast of blue and gold stand out. Hope you will enjoy your tea time while imagining the nature of the lake. Why don't you spend a mindful time with one-of-a-kind Kintsugi pottery? May you feel the beauty of the imperfection of Kintsugi. All materials we use are natural and do not have any risks of toxicity. The piece comes with a paulownia box, including care advises and a certificate of origin and quality. Product Details Size Ø120 H85mm / 280ml Weight 311g Material Vessel: Pottery Kintsugi portion: the 24k gold, natural Japanese lacquer Production Days 2 months Kintsugi Artist Nobuyasu Suginaka, Shiga JAPAN Production area of vessel Yokaichi city, Shiga JAPAN Usage Tableware (food-safe)