Antique Katagami Stencil - Abstract

Katagami stencils  are traditionally used to stencil a rice paste  resist on various katazome (stencil dye) cotton  or silk textiles before dyeing.   They're cut by hand from layers of sturdy handmade washi paper which has been treated with persimmon tannin to prevent  rotting. The tannin give it the distinctive brown colour that you also see in kakishibui dyed textiles used,  for example, to make sakabukuro bag strainers used in traditional sake making. 

This katagami measures 35.2cm x 41.8cm and is in excellent condition with only the tears you can see on two of the corners. I've called the design 'abstract' but I'm not sure if it's actually meant to represent anything.  Late 19th - early 20th century. 

Price includes GST and postage within Australia