Paper Stencils

Dorothy Marshall Hornblower

before 1905 · Metallic paint on paper prepared with brown ground · The American Wing

Hornblower probably created and used this stencil design of soapberry tree branches during her tenure as a textile designer at Tiffany Studios. Like Tiffany and other designers at his firm, she was drawn to nature for inspiration in her work, creating motifs with identifiable plants and flowers. This stencil, which was produced using a transferred or traced design, was coated with a varnish-like substance. Paper stencils were often waxed, oiled, or covered with a resin in order to strengthen the paper and repel dyes and pigments during use. Small punctures are evident along the perimeter of the stencil, likely resulting from pins used to fasten the stencil onto the fabric before dyes or pigments were applied to print the pattern. Metallic pigments remain on the stencil from past use.

Artist

Dorothy Marshall Hornblower

Date

before 1905

Medium

Metallic paint on paper prepared with brown ground

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Marjorie Hornblower Johnson, in memory of her grandmother, Dorothy Marshall Hornblower, 2009