Bark Cloth Tapa
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "STAINED BLACK EXCEPT FOR A REDDISH-BROWN STRIP AT EACH END. ALL INFORMATION ON THIS CARD GIVEN BY K. P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, 6/24/41. MR. EMORY ALOS TOOK A VERY SMALL SAMPLE OF THIS TAPA, 6/24/41." FROM CARD: "3622-4. POOR CONDITION, BUT FINE PIECE. (SPECIMEN BEARING THIS NUMBER WAS LOCATED BY MR. K. P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, WHO GAVE US THIS INFORMATION.) 6/24/41."
label: Notes
content: Peale catalogue identifies # 1435 - 1456 as "Ngatu." Bark cloth prepared for curtains by the natives of the Fiji Islands."
label: Notes
content: Long, narrow decorated bark cloth made in one layer having straight edges and is of relatively uniform width along its length. It is of fairly uniform thickness throughout and is of medium weight. It is made by piecing together 9 different sections of varying lengths (47", 45", 73", 63", 86", 42", 37", 46", 40") attached to each other by means of arrowroot (per Adrienne Kaeppler, Curator of Oceania Ethnology). The piecing is evident only on the back side. The bark cloth has large cut, unpigmented fringe on both ends. The bark cloth is almost completely covered with applied designs on the top side. Blocks of several linear design patterns applied with a pattern board using a black glazed colorant cover most of the top surface. Small rectangular blocks of brown glazed colorant in a cross hatch pattern applied with a pattern board decorate each end adjacent to the fringe. An unpigmented stripe separates the brown sections from the black. In the center of the bark cloth there is another similarly sized rectanglular block of brown separated by unpigmented stripes on either side. Has original Peale # label.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Fiji, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Fijian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 66A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E3622-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 1217 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 49.5 cm