A Katazome Stencil: Hand Cut, Large Pair of Kanji

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
19" x 11 1/4", 48.25 cm x 28.5 cm

A katagami is a hand cut stencil that is used as a guide to apply rice paste to the surface of cloth when dyeing in the katazome method. 

Katagami are made of paper that has been saturated with green persimmon tannin or kaki shibu and then smoked for added durability.

The cut design on this one is of two kanji or Chinese characters, one on top of the other, and each of fairly large size.

The black ink or black dye that is smudged all over the stencil's images is deep and rich in tone. It looks good against the brown tone of the paper.

This stencil showing the spirited characters is a small gem, a wonderful relic from the past and it is beautiful to look at.

Please note loss to the lower corner of the stencil as well as some holes in other areas, most of which are shown in details here.