Katagami stencil depicting sparrows in flight amongst the branches of a pine tree.

A Japanese katagami stencil depicting sparrows in flight amongst the branches of a pine tree. Tie bars are used to hold the stencil structure, these would be covered over by paste applied through a second stencil (K2.88) so would not appear on the printed textile. 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.