Japanese ideographs and Daki Myōga ginger leaves mons

A katagami stencil with a repeating pattern of Japanese ideographs and a mon (crest roundel) with a design of ginger leaves. The name for these can be written in Japanese with a meaning of 'divine protection'. 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.