Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 2011-0004-0001 | |
| Category | Textiles | |
| Object Name | Tapa cloth | |
| Culture | Polynesian: Tongan | |
| Global Region | Oceania | |
| Country | Tonga | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | unknown | |
| County | ||
| Other Geographic Data | unknown | |
| Maker's Name | Unknown | |
| Date of Manufacture | ca. 1984 | |
| Collection Name | N/A | |
| Materials | Mulberry bark; Dyes | |
| Description | Section of tapa cloth measuring 4 langanga (unit of measure generally equal to length from elbow to tips of fingers) that has been cut along three sides from much larger tapa cloth; White border along one edge has also been marked with numbers 25, 26, and 27, indicating its original position within the larger tapa cloth; Fabric is made from strips of mulberry bark that have been beaten into thin sheets and overlapped to make increasingly larger cloth; Background of design field is marked by light brown cross-hatch lines, indicating cloth was wrapped on sennit-covered board as it was made, then designs were marked on one face by pressing cloth against a kupesi or pattern board; Designs were then overpainted in dark brown and/or black; Several designs are repeated in rows that extend across width of tapa cloth, and include a row of triangles, alternately marked with a single stemmed flower and a single leafed stem; Bordering the band of triangles is the phrase, “KOE SISIMA LEO TUGI†referring to a royal belt; Next design band is filled with terraced diagonal columns of triangles and groups of 3 solid circles, the latter representing fruit of the hea tree; Next design band shows row of airplanes, each marked with the word “KUINISALOTEâ€; Last design band repeats terraced diagonal columns of triangles and hea fruit. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = 205.5, Length = 190.7 | |