JeffS73
Chumono
I'm enjoying your posts Lieuz. Regarding your unidentified pot in post #224, I believe it is Teizan, have a look at Japanese Bonsai Pots
Kintsugi Pot Repair
- Thread starter lieuz
- Start date
-
- Tags
- kintsugi lacquer pot repair
lieuz
Chumono
You're my hero, I've been looking all over and couldn't find it. Probably having eye fatigue.
lieuz
Chumono
Heian Kouzan (平安香山) - Shohin Rectangle - Sculpting
A few more weeks went by, and I was able to whittle the crude foot down. It was a super fun little project but it took a bit of time to whittle. I used a semi sharp scalpel to carve large chunks away, and then a fairly dull scalpel to scrape away the surface before I sanded some of it to shape. In the end, the foot came out looking pretty good.
Here's the side profile showing the side with the missing foot. That foot is whittled down to make it look like its companion foot.
Here's the other side, with the 25% missing foot filled back in. You can sorta tell how the two types of foot look different. Also note, those big holes have been filled in. I packed in the composite into those holes and cracks where I could.
Here's a front-on view of the corner perspective of the original foot.
Here's the other side with the sculpted foot. I think it could be a little bit slimmer.
Here's the underside. It's still quite crude and needs to be filled in with sabi urushi.
Here's the underside of the companion foot for reference.
Side profile of the companion foot, original.
I wanted to bring this foot's anatomical features to light. One of the things I love most about this foot is the portion that flips upward.
Here's the line highlighted for your viewing convenience. These types of feet remind me of the footwear of times long gone in China. The little flick upward looks quite elegant, giving it an exquisite classical look. Here's that footwear for reference.
Here's the sculpted foot with that upward motion sanded out. I'll add a little sabi urushi to fill in any pits.
Not bad for sculpting from a big chunk of composite.
Attachments
lieuz
Chumono
Heian Kouzan (平安香山) - Shohin Rectangle - Sculpting (Continued)
So after a few more sanding sessions and fillers, I'm pretty happy with how the foot turned out. Interestingly, after I added the polishing urushi to fill in any divots, the red polishing urushi turned out to look pretty much like the glaze. I'm still going to polish some more before I gild, but this is pretty much where I'd like to be with the foot. I can now start on other parts of the pot.
I'll be applying urushi into all the crevices to fill in all the voids. I would rather flood the space with liquid urushi first before adding sabi urushi. More to come!
lieuz
Chumono
Suruga Seizan (駿河政山) - Shohin Square - Analysis
I've recently had the great pleasure of having this Seizan pot come across my repair table from one of our own, @MACH5 Sergio Cuan. Unfortunately, this pot broke; however, it gets to have a new life as a reassembled kintsugi pot. We also get a good education about how some pots are created.A bit of background on Suruga Seizan: he was born in 1945 and, to the best of my knowledge, is still living. Seizan began his artistic journey as a bonsai practitioner long before turning to ceramics, a path that may sound familiar to many who discover pottery through their passion for bonsai.
After dedicating forty years to the art of bonsai, Seizan shifted his focus to ceramics about eighteen years ago. His motivation that springboarded him into bonsai ceramics was simple yet profound: to create the ideal pot for his own trees (this should definitely sound very familiar). Despite being relatively new to the world of bonsai ceramics without familial associations or past ceramic experience, Seizan has developed a reputation for producing exceptionally beautiful and meticulously crafted works of the highest quality.
I realized I had mischaracterized this pot during my initial analysis with Sergio. One of the most fascinating aspects of examining a broken pot is the opportunity to uncover clues about how it was made. When Sergio and I first looked at this piece, we both noticed the absence of visible seams. Initially, I thought this might suggest the pot had been made using a mold, where, at each seam joint, a coil of clay is pressed into the corners to eliminate the seam, followed by smoothing and finishing work to refine the surface. However, after researching Seizan’s methods further, I discovered something distinctive: Seizan is known for carving his pots from a single solid block of clay.
This approach was born from his observation that the feet of bonsai pots are often their weakest point; over time, they tend to be the first parts to fail, even when the rest of the pot remains intact. You can see this in examples like the Heian Kouzan Shohin Rectangle, where all four feet eventually broke off. In contrast, Seizan’s method of carving the entire pot, including the feet, from one continuous block ensures that the feet are structurally integral and less prone to failure. Realizing this was an enlightening moment, especially having a pot in hand that so clearly demonstrates his concept in action.
Here is the broken, painted Suruga Seizan pot.
Note:
This pot broke in ways that showcase the carving technique that Seizan employs. At first, Sergio and I thought there was going to be no damage to the front face of the pot; however, upon closer inspection, the face has some pretty deep fractures. Those cracks do come apart and are very much separated. This means there will be a gilded kintsugi joint seam on every face.
Obligatory chop mark presentation.
Note: The invisible fractures were not visible until a raking light was applied. The fractured cracks were further scribed open to make them visible and also wider so that lacquer can be applied later. Regarding the scene, it is a rather famous one, part of the 53 Stations of Tokaido by Utagawa Hiroshige.
Note the inscription, it reads the 東海道五拾三次之内 蒲原 "Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō: Kanbara". It describes the front-painted scene.
Here is an actual image of Hiroshige's 15th plate showcasing the same scene and inscription.
An interior view of the front face. Note the cracks have come all the way through to the back side. They may not reflect the distance traveled in front, but they do traverse quite far past the front face.
This piece is important as it gives the best evidence of this pot being carved from a single block of clay. Note how there are no seams from the side wall to the bottom plate with the feet.
The edges have been filed down so that the seam is much wider and can have more material, which means it'll have more strength to hold more. From this angle, I really love the shape of the feet. They are just so delicate and so aethetically pleasing to look at.
This concludes the analysis. The front could still use a little more scribing because the fractured seam is still a little too narrow for my liking. I need to be a little careful with the front to ensure the pot doesn't break as the goal is to impregnate the fractured seams with urushi vs breaking it.
Excited to put this back together. The front face piece will likely follow the Daisuke - Shohin Round pot approach, where I clamp the piece together and apply urushi.
More to come.
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
David, thank you for your highly detailed in-depth analysis. I have learned a lot. I have no doubt you'll do a magnificent job repairing this pot and will be even more beautiful than ever!
lieuz
Chumono
Nick Lenz - Oval - Finished Repair
This pot has been on the repair table for a little too long. This belongs to my study group mate and he doesn't have an urgency to get it repaired quickly. We traded services, I got a shohin stand from him (he makes stands) and I repaired his pot, we're a good collection of people that have other skills outside of bonsai.This pot was hard to repair in the sense that there was a lot of unfinished surface, which made repairing it to a smooth surface difficult. There was a ton of grit and it made sanding hard and getting a level surface was also challenging. I think I could have done a better job preparing this pot. The lines are a little thicker than I would have wanted. This pot is usable and I've told my study group mate that if he wants to use this pot again, to protect the surface with a long strip of paper towel, also when anchoring the tree to the pot, to use the monolithic side where the larger piece is still whole.
lieuz
Chumono
MOTHER F*#@ER!
Well, this happened.
Sometimes you think you've caught all the cracks and the path they're cracking in, and sometimes you miss it. I didn't realize there were smaller micro fractures I've missed. When I was scribing the pot a bit more, it forced the piece to crack open those micro fractures and the piece just cracked off.
FWIW, the piece was fairly "loose". I was able to force the piece open a bit, and the piece was able to give way liberally. You can see this image below, how much it can "bend" with a gentle push.
Silver lining, if it broke that easily, then it meant it wasn't secure at all. That way, I'll be able to adhere it back together with a stronger bond with the mugi urushi.
Well, this happened.
Sometimes you think you've caught all the cracks and the path they're cracking in, and sometimes you miss it. I didn't realize there were smaller micro fractures I've missed. When I was scribing the pot a bit more, it forced the piece to crack open those micro fractures and the piece just cracked off.
FWIW, the piece was fairly "loose". I was able to force the piece open a bit, and the piece was able to give way liberally. You can see this image below, how much it can "bend" with a gentle push.
Silver lining, if it broke that easily, then it meant it wasn't secure at all. That way, I'll be able to adhere it back together with a stronger bond with the mugi urushi.
tanlu
Shohin
That’s cool you could identify those motifs in bonsai pots. I’m fascinated with how cultural influences over centuries are reflected in local aesthetic and material culture.
Fun fact: Leather boots in traditional China, such as those boots in that image, originated from Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty. They’re equestrian attire, designed for horse riding and active nomadic life. The practicality of this style became popular amongst the Han Chinese population and also extended to the social elite of the Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago.
lieuz
Chumono
Suruga Seizan (駿河政山) - Shohin Square - Assembly
Simple assembly, ended up being very clean and once all the excess was removed, all the pieces sat very flush with each other.The one thing I wanted to make sure I did was do one last scribing of the areas I was going to impregnate with urushi. However it would be AFTER I've put the pot back together hoping it'll help with applying counter pressure.
Ended up being successful, here is an image showing how much the crack took on urushi without me actually applying urushi from the back. See how deep that crack went, I love when the crack gets filled up, proper scribing definitely helps.
Here is another image showing the difference between impregnation of urushi vs adhesion with mugi urushi. The impregnation line is always crisper and cleaner.
Here are other images showing the pot back together.
A close up of the front.
Similar threads
