24K Gold Kintsugi Kyoto Sake Cup | The Hummingbird's Gaze

Kyoto Porcelain in Red Kyoto ware developed alongside the old capital's tea culture, producing elegant vessels for sencha and sake. This delicate footed cup has thin porcelain walls, an iron-red overglaze, a white interior, and a dark rim. Its original gold and silver cranes were lost during restoration, leaving a red ground for a new painted design. Born of Kyoto’s Heritage: This piece too is authentic Kyo-yaki pottery, handcrafted using time-honored techniques and refined by centuries of Japanese artistry. Learn more → The Art and Technique of Kyoto Ware Restored and Painted in Urushi Over four months, Maki Mizuno, a lacquer artist who holds a degree in Lacquer Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts and has been recognized in Shiga's juried art exhibitions, restored a tiny rim chip with natural urushi and built a smooth foundation. She 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 to create one durable layer. The final roiro finish requires exceptional skill and meticulous hand-polishing, giving the gold a rich, deep luster. She also painted two hummingbirds in pale blue-green pigmented urushi in the urushi-e technique. Food-safe, the cup can be used for sake or tea. Two Hummingbirds One hummingbird perches beneath the small gold accent, its beak angled up as if admiring it; another flies on the opposite side, adding lightness and movement to the vivid red porcelain. Both were painted with a fine brush in pigmented urushi, the urushi-e technique more than a thousand years old that contemporary lacquer artists such as Mizuno continue in their own work. Here the two birds lift a small kintsugi restoration into a work of lacquer art, and the cup becomes painting as well as porcelain. Symbols of good fortune, they lend the cup a playful elegance. Cherishing it over time helps carry forward both Kyoto's ceramic heritage and the artistry of Japanese urushi.