2020-04-06

A broken dish, a little gold and a valuable lesson

The Japanese practice of Kintsugi entails repairing broken porcelain (or other materials, I suppose) dishes or cups etc. using gold. Why? Because a break tells a story and that makes it worth more, not less.

The idea that a break makes something worth more is an idea that I get on board with. This is also well in line with the stoic idea of “Amor Fati” (see this website’s main image); that whatever happens, make the best of the ensuing situation. If you look at the pictures below, you’ll see a very real example of how I implemented this principle.

When my kids were born, I passed my “Snoopy” plate, bowl and cup on to them. I had these when I was very young, so they must be at least as old as I am. Then, this happened to the plate (no, I did not break it on purpose to prove a point :-) ). Please click the pictures to see them in their entirety.

After my initial shock, I remembered I had read about kintsugi and started looking for a way to do it myself. Luckily, I found a kintsugi kit on a website called Droog (I think it’s Dutch). So, I  bagged the shards…

… ordered the kit and waited. When it came, I saw that it uses a powerful two-part epoxy and actual gold dust - I know! Fancy, right? Then I got down to it.

It was less difficult than I had feared, but probably also just because the number of pieces was still in the single-digits.

In my humble opinion, the end-result leaves a bit to be desired - it almost looks a little gaudy.

Kintsugi. Stoicism. Think about it. Especially these days.