Stencil with Pattern of Seascape with Boats and Shore with Pines

Stencils like these were traditionally used in Japan in a resist-dyeing process to produce lengths of patterned cloth. A length of white cloth was stretched out and paste was applied through the stencil, which was then removed to the next area and the next until the entire length was covered. The cloth was then dyed, usually with indigo, and the areas covered with the paste resisted the dye. In both of these stencils, note that half of the pattern is upside down, resulting in a finished product in which either end can serve as the top.

The ground is cut away in the smaller stencil, placing it in the category of stencils called jishiro, literally "white ground." When paste is applied through jishiro stencils, the result is a dyed pattern on a reserved or white ground.