Piece Of Tapa
date: label: Accession Date
content: 26 Oct 1874
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Collector
content: Major William Rich
label: Collector
content: United States Exploring Expedition
label: Donor Name
content: Prof Spencer F. Baird
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "15090-8. INVENTORIED 1975."
label: Notes
content: 15090 - 15098 originally catalogued as just Polynesian. An unknown person pencilled in Hawaii? at a later date. This piece atypical for Hawaii.
label: Notes
content: Not typical Hawaiian.
label: Notes
content: Old label pinned to back of tapa says: "From Maj. Wm. Rich. Tappa cloth, Navigators Islands, a present from Isaba, a native teacher at Apia, Upolu."
label: Notes
content: Rectangular piece of coarse bark cloth with a decorated and glazed surface. The front surface is embellished with fine diagonal lines and patterns that have been applied using a design board from the back and rubbing on a reddish brown colorant from the front. This leaves an impressed surface on the back and a slight raised surface on the front. The front surface is decorated: with dark reddish brown block borders along the short sides and alternating black and reddish brown rectangular blocks in the center. Black line decorations are visible in the reddish brown blocks. In addition a dark glossy colorant/glaze is applied on the front surface. All 4 edges appear to be scissor cut.
label: Notes
content: Triangle designs identified as trochus shell design by Regina Meredith, American Samoa.
label: Notes
content: NMNH Curator of Oceania, Adrienne Kaeppler confirms the tapa is Samoan with related Tongan designs. (September 2013).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Apia, Upolu Island, Samoa (Western Samoa), Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 74A00057
label: USNM Number
content: E15092-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 96.9 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 56.2 cm