PRODUCT AS PROTAGONIST: The Alma Story

Katazome stencil practices, a Japanese fabric dyeing method, were the impetus of the Alma print. Katazome printmaking has a rather compelling history, rich with features of its function. Rather well suited for a towel set, posed now in modernity.

The Alma print is inspired by Katazome prints found in the rare book, The Book of Delightful and Strange Designs Being One Hundred Facsimile Illustrations of the Art of the Japanese-Stencil-Cutter, published in 1893 by the late Victorian Publisher and Stationer Andrew Tuer. In it, the "gentle reader” is invited to behold one hundred illustrations collected by Tuer. The background of one of the gridlike prints included in this collection, inspired the geometric print repeat that makes up the Alma print.

Katazome techniques require a “dye-resistant paste [made of rice]...applied to [a] cloth through a stencil made of mulberry paper which has been waterproofed with persimmon juice.” Since the 12th century, and popularized between the years of 1790-1912, Katazome is often practiced upon kimonos and very commonly dyed with indigo.

The Alma print bears resemblance to its fellow Ester print, explore its differences and find it here.