A Landscape in Bands
This Kyoto ware porcelain serving bowl is twenty centimeters across and was painted entirely by hand in sometsuke blue. Bands of lattice, waves, and geometric patterns encircle the vessel, framing a hand-painted landscape of mountains and water. Three slender cords around the flared form set a calm, ordered rhythm.
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
Gold Through the Lattice
From the rim, a branching seam of 24K gold descends through the lattice band and across the painted landscape. Its angular path contrasts with the bowl’s horizontal order. The vessel was broken into pieces and restored over four months with natural urushi lacquer by Keiko Hata. Hata holds a Master’s degree in Lacquer Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts, creates contemporary urushi artworks, and continues to conserve Buddhist statues alongside her kintsugi practice. The gold was then polished to roiro, the pinnacle of urushi finishing, revealing its deep, lustrous sheen.
The Fourth Line
Three slender cords have always governed this bowl, dividing its painted surface into steady horizontal registers. The kintsugi restoration introduces a fourth line that follows none of the others, descending from the rim to the body and crossing each band at an angle. While the original decoration circles the form, the gold moves downward, and the finished composition holds both directions at once.
