Kintsugi vase with beetle elytra

For this white matte porcelain vase, which was accidentally broken, I decided to use a particularly difficult and delicate technique in addition to 24-carat gold kintsugi: inlaying beetle elytra.

This is the mystery ingredient of this restoration: finely chiselled elytra inlaid in natural black lacquer.

This technique requires meticulous, patient work. With an added difficulty in the case of this piece: the surface is curved rather than flat, making inlaying all the more complex.

The result? A 17cm-high piece that has become absolutely unique. The alliance of two ancestral techniques and a noble-looking vase.