Paper Stencils

Dorothy Marshall Hornblower first came to know Tiffany as a friend of his daughters. Between 1905 and 1907, she worked for him as a designer in the Textile Department at Tiffany Studios. She created stencils to use for printing fabrics with various colors and decorative patterns. This stencil, which she probably created at Tiffany Studios, depicts maidenhair fern fronds. Hornblower carefully cut out the design, following a transferred or traced drawing. She left small segments of paper called ties to connect the negative spaces and delineate the desired motif. To execute the design, Hornblower first fastened the stencil to the textile, and then applied pigments to the uncovered areas left by the stencil. The printed pattern was revealed once the stencil was removed. The dark metallic paint on this stencil shows that it was used at one time.