Kintsugi Sea Globe (Earthenware)
Dimensions: H: 10.5cms D: 10.5cms
Clay: Earthenware
Technique: Slip cast
Glaze: Cobalt, black, aventurine, and gold
Sculpture / Non Functional
Earthenware Sea Globes are fired many times to create complex glazing designs that have been abstractly inspired by the coastline where I live and work.
This globe broke up during the final firing and has been repaired in my studio here on the Pembrokeshire Coast. The globe is glazed with a fusion of black, aventurine, and blue glazes fused together at high temperatures and creating a beautiful feathered finish. These tones cover three quarters of the globe with the remaining base and internal parts finished with a matt transparent.
The piece has been finished with gold detailing on the rim and 24 carat gold leaf highlighting the repairs in the style of Kintsugi on the external parts of the globe, whilst internally the damage is visible without being highlighted.
Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique.
I complete very few Earthenware Sea Globes due to the success rate being low caused by the multiple firings and complex glazing designs. Each piece is unique and designed purely as a sculptural “objet d’art” and is not functional (i.e. should not be used as a vase)
PLEASE NOTE: This piece is a globe that has cracked during firing and intentionally repaired using the style of Kintsugi highlighting the repairs in gold leaf.
Initialled on the base
