Antique Japanese Tea Cup – 24k Gold Kintsugi Restoration (c. 1870) This elegant Japanese porcelain tea cup, approximately 150 years old, was discovered in a Tokyo flea market in 2024. Once cracked and forgotten, it has been carefully restored using the traditional Kintsugi method with 24-karat gold and natural Urushi lacquer.

The smooth celadon exterior is traced with luminous gold seams that flow gracefully toward a delicate hand-painted blue flower inside—an intimate reminder that healing and beauty can coexist.

Both food-safe and watertight, this vessel can be used gently for tea or admired as a contemplative work of art celebrating resilience and renewal.

Medium: Porcelain, Urushi lacquer, 24k gold Origin: Japan, c. late 1800s (Meiji era) Dimensions: Approx 5.5cm H 7cm Diameter Food-safe and watertight. Hand wash only. Not for microwave or dishwasher use.

🕊️ Artist’s Note - I found this cup among the broken ceramics at a flea market in Tokyo in 2024. Its gentle celadon hue and quiet floral design drew me in immediately. Repairing it with 24k gold became an act of honoring its story—a way to reveal, rather than hide, the beauty in what has endured.