Bark Cloth
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Collector
content: Samuel B. Elliot
label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: LARGE PIECE OF REDDISH-BROWN TAPA MADE OF "MAMAKI" FIBER WITH DARKER RED STRIPES GOING IN TWO DIRECTIONS AS DECORATION. AN 8 CM. WIDE BORDER HAS VERTICAL LINES AND THE MAIN BODY OF THE TAPA HAS HORIZONTAL LINES OF VARYING WIDTH. HAS PORTION OF ORIGINAL PEALE # LABEL. MARKED ON BACK AT LESS DAMAGED END: "SANDWICH ISL. BY S.B. ELLIOT EX EX B[OX]. 62.". EXAMINED AND SAMPLED BY KENNETH P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, JUNE 1941.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "3521-33*. CAT. 3526, ORIG. ??6. TAPA, A KILT 36" X 12'. RED. HAWAII. VERY SMALL SAMPLE TAKEN BY K. P. EMORY, 6/24/41."
label: Notes
content: Per Erhardt, W. D. and N. Firnhaber. "Analysis and Identification of Oils in Hawaiian Oiled Tapa." In Recent Advances in the Conservation and Analysis of Artifacts. Ed: James Black, London: University of London, Summer School Press, 1987, pp. 223 - 227, the oils on this tapa were most likely derived from the kukui nut.
label: Notes
content: Oiled bark cloth "Kapa". Bark cloth is rectangular with straight edges and is of relatively uniform width along its length. It is of fairly uniform thickness but thins at the ends. There are no seams in the construction. the felted construction is consistent with Hawaiian methods of manufacture. It appears to have been made with two layers. The cloth has an overall pinkish red coloration of about the same intensity on both sides. The colorant source may be a Hawaiian berry (per Adrienne Kaeppler, Curator for Oceania Ethnology). There is an applied pattern of fine parallel lines running across the length of the bark cloth on the front in a darker red-brown color. In this pattern, darker wider lines run about 1.5 cm apart, each bracketing two lighter thinner parallel lines. At both ends the same design is applied in a perpendicular band, 10 cm wide at one end and 7 cm wide at the other. There are no other embellishments. There are no beater marks visible. The bark cloth has a glossy surface on the outer side which is likely Kukui (candlenut oil) (per Natalie Firnhaber, Conservator, see reference above). The coating makes the surface somewhat water repellant. Bark cloth is in fragile condition.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 6 Nov 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Hawaii (Hawaiʻi), United States, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Hawaiian (Kanaka ʻŌiwi, Kanaka Maoli)
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: E3526-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 378 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 95.5 cm