{"product_id":"24k-gold-kintsugi-ko-imari-sake-cup-the-third-sparrow","title":"24K Gold Kintsugi Ko-Imari Sake Cup | The Third Sparrow","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"container\"\u003e\n\u003carticle aria-label=\"Figures Beneath Bamboo\"\u003e\n\u003csection style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\" aria-labelledby=\"figures-beneath-bamboo\"\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"figures-beneath-bamboo\" style=\"font-size: 1em; color: rgb(178, 137, 91); margin: 0 0 6px 0; font-weight: bold;\"\u003eFigures Beneath Bamboo\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0; color: #333; line-height: 1.7;\"\u003eKo-Imari porcelain is part of Arita's export tradition. Its cobalt-blue wares reached Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. This sake cup carries that heritage in its sometsuke decoration. A hatted figure stands beneath bamboo, painted in underglaze cobalt in a freehand style, and a lattice band circles the inside of the rim. The scholar in a bamboo grove is a classical subject, and the restoration introduces sparrows within this scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\" aria-labelledby=\"a-sparrow-raised-in-gold\"\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"a-sparrow-raised-in-gold\" style=\"font-size: 1em; color: rgb(178, 137, 91); margin: 0 0 6px 0; font-weight: bold;\"\u003eA Sparrow Raised in Gold\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0; color: #333; line-height: 1.7;\"\u003eThe cup had lost a chip from its rim. Saki Moriyama, a lacquer artist who holds a Master's degree in Lacquer Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts, completed Kyoto's successor program in urushi craft and has taught kintsugi workshops, spent four months rebuilding the missing section with natural urushi in cured, polished layers. She sprinkled 24K marufun (spherical gold powder) over the restored area in the maki-e manner, sealing it beneath a thin coat of raw urushi to form one durable layer. Exceptional skill and meticulous hand-polishing in the final roiro finish give the gold its rich, deep luster. A sparrow rises from the rim in gold takamaki-e; two more, painted in urushi-e, settle beneath the cobalt bamboo. Food-safe, the cup can be used for sake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\" aria-labelledby=\"three-sparrows-among-the-bamboo\"\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"three-sparrows-among-the-bamboo\" style=\"font-size: 1em; color: rgb(178, 137, 91); margin: 0 0 6px 0; font-weight: bold;\"\u003eThree Sparrows Among the Bamboo\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0; color: #333; line-height: 1.7;\"\u003eThree sparrows now inhabit the bamboo landscape: one in raised gold takamaki-e on the restored rim, and two painted below in urushi-e. Takamaki-e is the relief technique of Japan's finest lacquer boxes since the Heian court, and the eye moves between relief and brushwork as though the birds had always belonged together. Both centuries-old techniques remain part of contemporary lacquer artists' practice; here they turn a restoration into a small work of lacquer art, bringing the Imari painter's scene and Moriyama's birds into one hand. Food-safe, the cup is as much for sake as for the shelf, and it carries Moriyama's techniques onward, with the time and spirit she gave it, to wherever it is kept.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67789048971453,"sku":"UN0057","price":720.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/1803\/9485\/files\/kintsugi-sake-cup-ko-imari-24k-gold-front-un0057.jpg?v=1792052647","url":"https:\/\/kintsugilabo.com\/products\/24k-gold-kintsugi-ko-imari-sake-cup-the-third-sparrow","provider":"The Kintsugi Labo JAPAN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}