In the spring of 2025 I acquired approximately 500 antique katazome stencils in an auction. The designs are all hand carved, and most use the thread laying technique known as ito-ire to suspend floating parts.
In an effort to make these designs available to the public, I am slowly photographing them and tagging them for search.
It’s a big effort, as the stencils were stored in a warehouse full of paper moths and straw, and so I have to carefully clean and document each one while minimizing any further damage. I am not sure what era the stencils are from, but a professional stencil carver in Yokohama contacted me and estimated their age to be from 1700-1800 based on the ito-ire and ito-tsugi (sewn thread) techniques.
These designs are not my artwork and they are very old; they belong to everyone and are released under the public domain.
If you would like to support the conservation and digitization of these stencils, I have started a patreon to fund the ongoing cost of supplies and hosting. I also offer vectors of many of the stencils as a thank you. Find the patreon here: Katagami Archive Patreon