Stencil Item Number: Ed5.3082 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

The dark brown rectangular stencil has an overall komon cut design of horizontal line segments alternating with pairs of dots. A register point is located in each quadrant. Two joined dots are cut in one corner.

History Of Use

The katazome method of dying fabric used a resist paste applied through a stencil; when the paste dried the stencil was removed and colour was applied by brush. The paste was then washed away leaving undyed areas to form pattern against coloured ground. Prior to the 16th century cut stencils were used to colour leather armour. However, during the Edo Period (1603-1868) the technique was developed as a true native craft. Komon is a small overall design used for restrained monochrome designs on apparel of samurai and townsfolk.

Cultural Context

fabric printing