Ko-Imari, Over a Century Old
This bowl was formed as Ko-Imari porcelain more than a hundred years ago, during the period when Imari ware circulated between Japan and the West as objects of fascination and trade. The original hand-painted motifs in cobalt blue and iron red remain vivid beneath the restoration.
Gold and Mother-of-Pearl
Through her graduate studies at Kyoto City University of Arts (est. 1880), Keiko Hata mastered the full urushi discipline from woodworking through final gold application. She brings that depth of training alongside ongoing Buddhist statue conservation and an active exhibition practice to her work. She restored the fractures with natural urushi and 24K gold, then set raden inlay — thin slices of iridescent mother-of-pearl — along the seams. The raden traces paths where the original brushwork was interrupted by the break, guided by methods refined across centuries of Japanese lacquer practice.
Beyond the Gold Line
Most kintsugi ends where the gold begins — yet Japan's lacquer tradition has always seen the restored seam as an invitation for further artistry. On this bowl, raden inlay extends that invitation: the iridescent mother-of-pearl shifts color with every angle of light, an effect that exists only in the hand of the viewer. Pieces where kintsugi and raden converge are vanishingly rare, requiring a breadth of urushi training that few artists possess.
