Flax Cloak
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1840
name: label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: SMALL KAITAKA PAEPAEROA CLOAK WITH "TANIKO" BORDERS ON THREE SIDES, THE RIGHT AND LEFT ARE L-SHAPED WITH WIDEST PART AT BOTTOM OF "L", AND THE BOTTOM BORDER IS THE NARROWEST. THERE ARE 103 CONTINUOUS WEFT ROWS AT THE TOP BORDER, & 75 AT THE LOWER, 1.5 CM. IN WIDTH. WEDGE SHAPED COMPOUND INSERTS, 11 ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT AND 11 IN THE CENTER, GIVE SHAPE TO THE GARMENT. THE "TANIKO" PATTERNS ARE COMPOSED OF RECTANGLE, CHEVRON, TRIANGLE AND DIAMOND SHAPES IN BLACK, BROWN AND NATURAL COLORS WITH ADDITIONS OF RED AND GREEN WOOL. MARKS> #3772 IS WRITTEN ON BODY OF GARMENT. THE CLOAK IS BADLY WATER STAINED, AND COMING APART AT THE BORDER AND TOWARD THE CENTER, WITH ONE PIECE OF THE BORDER COMPLETELY SEPARATED FROM THE BODY OF THE GARMENT. VERY FRAGILE CONDITION. THE EXTENSIVE WATER STAINING MAY POSSIBLY BE A RESULT OF THE 1865 FIRE IN THE SMITHSONIAN CASTLE, OR PERHAPS SOME ALSO WAS SUSTAINED FROM USE OR DURING THE OCEAN VOYAGE FROM NEW ZEALAND TO THE U.S.?
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "3766-75. ORNAMENTED." FROM SECOND CARD: "D. R. SIMMONS [NOV. 1974]: SMALL PAEPAEROA CLOAK WITH TANIKO ON THREE SIDES (TARANAKI STYLE) AND TWO EXTRA BLOCKS AT LEFT AND RIGHT BOTTOM. BLACK, RED AND GREEN WOOL USED IN TANIKO. WEFT LINES 1.2 CM APART WITH TEN VERTICAL INSERTS ON EACH SIDE. FOUR ROWS WOOL NGORE AT BOTTOM."
label: Notes
content: Peale catalogue identifies # 523 - 530 as "Blanket mats called "Kaitoke" woven by hand from thread made of the native flax (Phormium tenax)." Additional information from D.R. Simmons, Curator, Auckland Institute and Museum, Auckland, New Zealand, 1973. Simmons notes that these cloaks would more properly be called Kaitaka, i.e. flax cloaks with patterned taniko borders, because Kaitoke = earthworm.
label: Notes
content: As of 2010, this object is extremely fragile and any handling should be minimized.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Apr 2018
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) / Bay of Islands, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Maori
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: E3772-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Cloak
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 101 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 114 cm
label: Width - Bottom
content: 150 cm
label: Width - Top
content: 158 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 101 cm
label: Width - Object Bottom
content: 150 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 158 cm