Horsetail stripes

十草 tokusa

Upright stripes that copy the jointed stems of horsetail, a reed once used to polish wood. A long-loved stripe on pottery and katagami stencils; it feels clean and straight-growing.

Plant stripe in ceramics and katagami

Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) is hard and rough with silica and was used to polish wood, hence its name 'whetstone grass'. Its jointed stems became a stripe pattern; pottery usually writes it 十草, stencils and dyeing 木賊.