Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 1984-0008-0081 | |
| Category | Textiles | |
| Object Name | Dress or dance tunic | |
| 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. 1920s | |
| Collection Name | Rollo Beck Collection (South Pacific) | |
| Materials | Paper mulberry bark; Shells; Seeds; Pandanus fiber; Commercial cotton cloth; Cotton (?) thread | |
| Description | Child's dress or dance tunic made from a single piece of tapa cloth that is folded in half along the shoulder and the two halves partially seamed together along the sides and under the short sleeves; Tapa cloth is made from strips of paper mulberry bark that have been beaten into thin sheets and overlapped to form a larger sheet which is undecorated except for large negative inverted and off-centered "U' shape on front of dress; Except for inverted "U' shape motif, entire surface of dress was rubbed to yield an all-over brown color; Semi-circular neck hole and outer edges of both sleeves are edged with strips of commercially printed cotton cloth and small folded triangles of natural colored and dyed red pandanus, all machine sewn to dress with black thread; Neck hole is framed on front and back with several rows of dark brown seed beads and several rows of off-white and darker brown olivella shells, all laid in rows parallel to contour of neck hole; Numerous short strands of additional olivella shells hang pendant from the shells framing the neck hole, with bits of dyed red pandanus attached to the final bead on many of the strands. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = ca. 60.0, Thickness = 2.3, Length = ca. 56.0 | |