Katagami stencil depicting wisteria sprays against a background of flowing water

A Japanese katagami stencil depicting wisteria sprays against a background of flowing water. Scenes of flowers against water are typical summer imagery. This stencil is of the sansun okuri size class (determined by the repeat length). 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 all date from the 1860s and 70s, and were used by the Studio's designers as reference material via which to produce their own Japanese-inspired patterns.