HOUSE AND GARDEN 
February, 1912 
A translucent lamp screen made 
from one stencil cleverly cut 
and matched by Japanese 
workmen 
than a stained glass win¬ 
dow would be, and is 
equally handsome and 
much more unique and 
unusual. I cannot re¬ 
commend anyone's at¬ 
tempting to make a win¬ 
dow of stencils. Only 
the skilled fingers of the 
Japanese could so care¬ 
fully join the edges of 
the varied designs, but 
they may be made to or¬ 
der by a Japanese workman, and they are very beautiful 
when in place. 
Trays are a simple matter to make. Mahogany or walnut 
trays may be bought at almost any department store, and 
many of the stores carry willow trays, or they may be 
bought where willow furniture exclusively is sold. 
After selecting the size and shape tray and a stencil that 
will fit into it without much waste, for it seems a sacrilege 
to cut these beautiful lacy patterns, the work of making an 
artistic tray is very simple. There is usually a piece of 
cardboard or thin wood under the glass. Cover this with 
silk, the color you have decided to have your tray. This 
must be carefully stretched and may be done by stitching 
it back and forth with a strong thread — carpet thread is 
best — or it may be pasted down. The folds resulting on 
round board should be pressed flat. 
The Japanese love of flowers is 
evidenced by countless designs 
As this board fits into the 
tray, it will not be necessary 
to finish it carefully on the 
back, though a piece of heavy 
paper can be cut to fit the 
board and pasted over the 
back, if one wishes to make 
a very neat piece of work. 
Cut the stencil the exact 
size of the silk covered board 
and paste it down by touch¬ 
ing here and there with a little 
paste. Over this put the glass. 
Where willow trays are used 
they may be stained to match 
the silk. The best effect is 
obtained by staining the tray 
and rubbing off some of the 
color. This leaves the dark¬ 
est tone in the crevices and 
gives an irregular finish, 
One of the simpler patterns that sug- which is much more effective 
gests a unit design to be repeated than a solid color. Stain the 
willow rim which holds the 
a glass in the same way, and when both tray and finishing rim are 
dry, tack the rim in with a strong thread of the same color. This 
will hold the board, glass and 
rim securely in place. 
The little lamp shown in the 
Japanese bird designs come 
in endless variety 
The delicate tracery and intricate patterns make it seem impossible that 
the designs were cut by hand 
When used under the glass of willow trays the Japanese stencil adds 
an attractive note that is hard to duplicate with other materials 
