Antique Japanese Katagami Textile Stencil with Cranes, Branches, and Handwritten Notes wedding day portrait I think never used

I think never used

here framing a perfect round of sky just above the tree line

I LOVE her

Perfectly alligatored tall thin hand-painted lettering against perfectly aged cool white ground

it is the more naive and personally expressive examples that attract me

Antique Japanese Katagami Textile Stencil with Cranes, Branches, and Handwritten Notes wedding day portrait I think never usedThis is a Japanese "katagami" paper stencil, made of layers of mulberry paper laminated together and treated with kakishibu persimmon tannin that lends durability and water resistence. Paper stencil like this were traditionally used for patterning textiles, especially kimono fabric, using a resist dyeing process called katazome. I am not at all an expert but find them quite beautiful things, and really love the (all handcut) pattern on this one, with