The Berenda Pattern, 1940s
Noritake’s Berenda pattern—romantic florals rendered in soft pinks and greens against ivory porcelain—belongs to the 1940s, a decade when Japanese porcelain carried a particular nostalgia and refinement. This cup and saucer survived that era, then broke, then was chosen for restoration rather than disposal.
A Painter's Discipline in Lacquer
Maki Mizuno studied the complete lacquer discipline — woodworking through gold application — at the urushi department of Kyoto City University of Arts (est. 1880). She brings a painter's sensitivity to her lacquer practice, blending watercolor sensibilities into each restoration — a distinctive approach recognized with the highest honors at the Shiga Museum of Art two years running. On this set, the gold is balanced and restrained: enough to honor each fracture, not so much as to overwhelm the original Berenda design — every layer informed by the same techniques that have preserved Japanese lacquerwork for centuries.
A Named Pattern, a Specific Decade
Most broken pottery is anonymous. This cup and saucer carries a name — Berenda — and a decade: the 1940s. Noritake's named patterns are collected precisely because they anchor a piece to a specific moment in the company's production history. The kintsugi restoration adds another identifiable chapter, making this set traceable across three distinct lives: its manufacture, its fracture, and its restoration.
