Butterflies against a background of tied bunches of wisteria

Chou (Butterfly) is one of the most popular patterns in Japanese culture, often seen on Japanese Kimonos and textiles. For the Japanese people, the butterfly has many spiritual, symbolic and artistic meanings. When the era of Ukiyo-e woodblock cuts came along during the middle to the late of Edo period (1692-1868), the butterfly quickly became a popular subject for the Ukiyo-e artists. Many Ukiyo-e Butterfly design Kimono prints were produced by the artists, which in turn promoted the pattern for Oiran geisha costumes. This is one of around 400 Japanese katagami stencils which are part of the Silver Studio Collection. The stencils were produced in Japan as a way of applying patterns to fabric, mainly kimonos. The katagami collected by the Silver Studio were used by their designers as reference material to produce their own Japanese-inspired patterns. This katagami stencil matches a Silver Studio design (SD7588). This Katagami employed the Itoire technique. This is one method of silk thread reinforcement in Katagami. Itoire was a detailed technique which was applied to Katagami by veteran female artisans at Shiroko, Ise, from about 1750. Itoire was used until 1920. See Markham, Mamiko (2018): Katagami technique Itoire. Middlesex University Journal contribution. https://doi.org/10.22023/mdx.6477776.v1