Porcelain Manju Netsuke, Hirado ware
Cherry Blossoms & Kintsugi
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/2/7/132721643/editor/1img-0615.jpg?1611472840)
Type: Manju netsuke
Material: Glazed porcelain
Age:
Origin/Maker: Tentatively Hirado ware,
Size:
Weight:
Provenance:
Collected:
Condition: Crack repaired with kintsugi (gold lacquer repair). Red binding lacquer visible under gold.
Subject: Underglaze blue and white cherry blossom (sakura) flowers, with overglaze lacquer decorations.
This is a recent acquisition of mine, a porcelain manju netsuke decorated with blue and white (sometsuke) sakura cherry
blossoms. I believe it to be Kyoto ware, but wouldn't be surprised if it was actually Arita or Hirado ware
(if I could identify the signature marks on the back I'd probably know for sure). I bought this netsuke knowing it had a
repaired crack, but it wasn't until I received it that I realized it was repaired using Kintsugi, "the Japanese art of
repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold... As a philosophy it treats breakage and
repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise" If you look closely at the crack, it
is filled with a red lacquer, and covered with gold (most of the remaining gold is on the front side of the crack,
the red lacquer is more apparant on the reverse). It's the only piece of ceramic I have with a kintsugi repair, though
I've come across a few pieces with metal staple repairs (a related repair technique, though much less visually appealing).
Location:
Material: Glazed porcelain
Age:
Origin/Maker: Tentatively Hirado ware,
Size:
Weight:
Provenance:
Collected:
Condition: Crack repaired with kintsugi (gold lacquer repair). Red binding lacquer visible under gold.
Subject: Underglaze blue and white cherry blossom (sakura) flowers, with overglaze lacquer decorations.
This is a recent acquisition of mine, a porcelain manju netsuke decorated with blue and white (sometsuke) sakura cherry
blossoms. I believe it to be Kyoto ware, but wouldn't be surprised if it was actually Arita or Hirado ware
(if I could identify the signature marks on the back I'd probably know for sure). I bought this netsuke knowing it had a
repaired crack, but it wasn't until I received it that I realized it was repaired using Kintsugi, "the Japanese art of
repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold... As a philosophy it treats breakage and
repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise" If you look closely at the crack, it
is filled with a red lacquer, and covered with gold (most of the remaining gold is on the front side of the crack,
the red lacquer is more apparant on the reverse). It's the only piece of ceramic I have with a kintsugi repair, though
I've come across a few pieces with metal staple repairs (a related repair technique, though much less visually appealing).
Location: