Katagami Japanese resist-printing STENCILS for textiles

Description

Katagami
Japanese Stencil
Circa 1800's
Size: 16.25" x 12.5"
Katagami
are Japanese resist-printing stencils for textiles that were originally used for applying patterns to kimono cloth.
In the past, Katagami stencils were created simply as tools; they were part of the process of dyeing colored designs onto cloth used to make anything from everyday work wear to the finest silk kimonos. More recently katagami have come to be appreciated as remarkable and beautiful objects in their own right.
Many examples of katagami were acquired by European museums and art schools, and by design companies such as the Silver Studio. The stylized motifs and sinuous lines of the traditional katagami designs had a strong influence on Western design and decorative art, particularly Art Nouveau and Art Deco.
They continue to hold a fascination for creative practitioners today, not only because of the beauty and stylization of the motifs depicted, but also for the slow and sustainable nature of the traditional methods.
Ise-Katagami
(伊勢型紙), the Japanese craft of making paper stencils for dyeing textiles, was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1993 and is traditionally centered on the city of Suzuka in Mie Prefecture. The thick stencils are crafted from a special paper handmade by pasting together multiple sheets of
washi
, or traditional Japanese paper, with
kakishibu
, the tannin-rich juice of the Japanese persimmon. Many Ise-Katagami stencils found their way to Europe, together with Ukiyo-e prints, at the end of the Edo period, inspiring the japonisme movement.