Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 0519-0005 | |
| Category | Textiles | |
| Object Name | Tapa cloth | |
| Culture | Polynesian: Samoan | |
| Global Region | Oceania | |
| Country | Samoa | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | American Samoa | |
| County | ||
| Other Geographic Data | Island: Tutuila | |
| Maker's Name | Unknown | |
| Date of Manufacture | ca. 1910 | |
| Collection Name | N/A | |
| Materials | Paper mulberry bark; Native dyes (derived from 'o'a [Bischofia javanica] sap mixed with charcoal or from lama [candlenut tree, Aleurites moluccana] kernels) | |
| Description | Rectangular tapa cloth that is made from strips of mulberry bark that have been beaten thin and overlapped to form larger cloth; Design field is divided into alternating narrow and wide vertical columns, and the wider columns are further subdivided into smaller rectangles; Each small rectangle is divided diagonally, with one-half decorated with a chevron-patterned palm or fern frond and the other half decorated with a palm frond with more cascading leaves; Each rectangle is nearly identical, except the designs are rotated 180 degrees in adjacent columns and in one column the cascading palm frond includes the terminal growth shoot; Narrow vertical columns are decorated either with heavy zigzag lines or columns of contiguous triangles; All designs are a very dark brown color, and portions of the designs have been over-painted, giving them a glossy sheen; Cloth has been cut on all four sides. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = 116.0, Length = 177.5 | |