This is a beautiful Japanese porcelain tea cup, painted in red, blue, and gold. We found it at To-ji Temple’s antique market in Kyoto, where many old and special Japanese items are sold.
The floral design is full of color and detail. This kind of style is similar to Ko-Imari(古伊万里) porcelain — a famous type of Japanese pottery from the Edo period. Inside the cup, there is a simple blue circle design. The bottom shows a traditional maker’s mark.
What makes this cup really special is the golden repair line. It was fixed using kintsugi (金継), a traditional Japanese way of repairing broken ceramics with gold. Kintsugi means "golden joinery" and it teaches us that broken things can still be beautiful. In fact, the gold lines become part of the cup’s story.
We believe this piece was made in the late Edo(1780s~) to early Meiji period (mid-1800s). It’s a one-of-a-kind item and great for decoration, tea lovers, or anyone who loves the idea of beauty in imperfection.
