02 Feb A Rich Seam
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of ‘golden repair’ – the mending of broken pottery with a seam of lacquer mixed with powdered metal. It’s not just beautiful, but philosophical, expressing the idea that imperfections can be celebrated, and that something that is broken can come back even stronger and more unique than before.
With its snaking metallic line on a bold scale, Phillip Jeffries’ new ‘Adorn’ wallcovering was inspired by this technique. To make it, skilled artisans cut and lay the metallic leaf on to a ground of thin wood veneer, before the six-panel design is pressed and laminated to flatten and protect it. The gold-on-black version pictured is highly dramatic, while other examples include silver on an inky blue and gold on white.
‘Adorn’ is part of Urban Fringe, a collection of 19 designs, many of which were influenced by the aesthetics of city life. ‘Tag’ is a mural on Japanese paper featuring abstract, spray-painted graffiti, while ‘Cobblestone Cloth’ has the uneven blocky pattern of an ancient paved street.
See the new collection in the showroom at London Design Week 2022.