Kintsugi Guide

Long before written history, the people of Japan had already learned to refine the sap of the urushi tree. Excavations have unearthed lacquered combs and vessels more than six thousand years old — among the earliest known examples of urushi craft anywhere in the world.

In the imperial courts of Heian-era Kyoto, urushi reached a pinnacle of refinement. Court artisans developed maki-e — sprinkling fine gold and silver powder onto wet lacquer — transforming combs, boxes, and writing instruments into glowing canvases that captured the elegance of aristocratic Japan.

Under the Ashikaga shoguns, urushi entered a quieter, more contemplative era — shaped by Zen and the rise of the tea ceremony. It was in this period that a celadon tea bowl known as Bakōhan, mended with metal staples after returning from China, is said to have inspired Japanese artisans to seek a more graceful repair — planting the seeds of kintsugi.

When Portuguese traders and missionaries arrived in Japan at the end of the sixteenth century, they came across urushi for the first time and were captivated by it. They soon commissioned reliquaries, lecterns and devotional shrines from Kyoto's lacquer workshops, fusing maki-e with shimmering mother-of-pearl inlay to create nanban-shikki — the first wave of Japanese export lacquer. These treasures soon sailed back across the oceans to adorn the palaces of cardinals, kings and queens.

Peace, prosperity, and a flourishing merchant class made the Edo era the high point of decorative urushi. Master designers like Ogata Kōrin fused poetry, painting, and lacquer into objects of breathtaking beauty — a tradition that captured the imagination of Europe through the export trade known abroad as "Japanning."

As Japan opened to the West, urushi artists like Shibata Zeshin found new audiences abroad while preserving centuries-old techniques at home. Later, masters such as Matsuda Gonroku were recognized as Living National Treasures, ensuring that the wisdom of urushi would pass intact into the modern century.

Today, urushi continues to inspire, being preserved by Living National Treasures, taught in master ateliers and reimagined by contemporary artists working in entirely new forms. Kintsugi is one doorway into this world, quietly succeeding the export lacquer tradition that first carried urushi across the oceans four centuries ago. Beyond that lies a living art form where the depth, light and quiet lustre of urushi invite collectors to discover its potential for much more than just restoration.