Filling in the cracks

"Empty vessels make the most noise" was a much used

and extremely irritating remark frequently made by

old Ada Hendriks, my maternal grandmother.

What she actually meant was that "this child (me) is 

making far too much noise, will somebody please 

shut her up at once."

This one "bowls" me over.

But when you think about it, if you drop an old china

vase from a great height onto a tiled floor not only does

it shatter into zillions of pieces but it also does make

an extremely satisfying, smashing noise.  How do I know?

I tried it once and then blamed my grandmother for

my childish curiosity.

Broken hearts?  No problem.

Which brings me to the subject of today's post - what to do

with all the pieces.  Well, as luck would have it, the

Japanese have already come up with the perfect solution,

KINTSUKUROI.  A rather beautiful word and one that

could almost be hurled in anger - suck your what?

What are the odds on the cracks forming branches I wonder?

What it actually means is golden repair or joinery.  It's the

art of mending broken pottery with lacquer dusted with

gold, silver or platinum dust and the finished result is often

more beautiful than the original object.

This one was well and truly up the spout before it was mended.

There are three distinct methods to chose from.  Either

stick the bits back together again with the golden lacquer

if the damage is not too bad.  If there are actual pieces

missing then replace them with a solid gold infill and

if all else fails find a similarly shaped non-matching piece

and lacquer it in creating a patchwork effect.  But

where to find another piece, you may well ask.

Smash something else of course, let's do this repair properly.

I always knew she'd crack up under pressure.

As with most things Japanese there's also a philosophical

side to this smashing art form where breakage and repair

are looked on as part of the history of an object rather than

something to disguise.  It's an acceptance of change and

fate as aspects of human life; a compassionate sensitivity.

So next time you break something precious and try to stick

it together again just tell yourself that if you were in Japan

they would regard your now less than perfect vessel as having 

become more beautiful for having been broken.

Crackin' as the Welsh would say.