24K Gold Kintsugi Arita Matcha Bowl | Branches in the Haze

Oil Spots over Arita Clay Japanese porcelain began in Arita in the early 1600s, and its kilns have long used dark iron glazes. This matcha bowl has a thick black glaze flecked with dense oil-spot speckles. White slip applied with a coarse brush softens into hazy gray-white areas, fading across the black like drifting clouds. Its gently waisted body rests on an unglazed buff foot. 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 A Conservator's Hand in Gold Keiko Hata, a lacquer artist who holds a Master's degree in Lacquer Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts and conserves Buddhist statues alongside her own practice, restored this broken bowl over four months. She rejoined the fragments, rebuilt the damaged areas, and formed a foundation of cured, polished layers with natural urushi. She then sprinkled 24K marufun (spherical gold powder) over the restored areas in the maki-e manner and sealed it with a thin coat of raw urushi to form one durable layer. The last stage, the roiro finish, demands exceptional skill in hand-polishing and gives the gold its rich, deep luster. Food-safe, the bowl can be used for matcha. Gold Against the Night Glaze Black oil-spot glaze and brushed white slip suggest a night sky seen through cloud, and the 24K gold lines branch across it like bright limbs in the haze. A chawan invites turning and close examination before and after drinking; here the eye follows three layers: dense speckles, drifting white, and gold. Food-safe, it is for matcha and for looking at alike. The patience Hata brings to Buddhist sculpture and to her own urushi work is in these restored lines, and the bowl carries it, with Arita's black glaze and the story of its restoration, to whoever keeps it next.