Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 1984-0008-0354 | |
| Category | Textiles | |
| Object Name | Tapa cloth | |
| Culture | Polynesian: Fijian | |
| Global Region | Oceania | |
| Country | Fiji | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | ||
| 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; Native dyes | |
| Description | Elongated rectangular tapa cloth, made from strips of paper mulberry bark that have been beaten into thin sheets which are then overlapped to form larger sheets; Central design field is divided into three rectangular panels, with both ends decorated with positive and negative narrow parallelograms in black and white; Central panel is subdivided into 10 smaller blocks, each containing a negative star or floral motif on a black or half black-half brown background; Series of elaborate borders frame the cloth on all four sides (1 end now missing), the most prominent border consisting of a continuous band of negative diamonds with a central star motif; Outermost edges of cloth were painted with series of parallel diagonal lines, and then cut to form long narrow fringes along sides of cloth and shorter, triangular fringes along ends; All designs were probably applied using stencils to paint black designs, sometimes over a brown underpainting. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = ca. 66.0, Length = ca. 206.5 | |