Tapa Garment
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 Apr 1900
label: Collection Date
content: 1899 to 1900
name: label: Collector
content: Charles H. Townsend
label: Collector
content: H. F. Moore
label: Donor Name
content: U.S. Commission of Fish & Fisheries
label: Expedition
content: Albatross Expedition / U.S. Fish Commission
label: Vessel
content: U.S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross"
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Black and brown decoration."
label: Notes
content: This garment is made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. It is rectangular in shape and has serrated edges along both sides (width) with bits of fringe. The bottom edge is heavily fringed. The top surface is elaborately decorated with an intricate border design along the bottom third of the piece, mostly done with black pigment. The remainder is a more open work design with occasional circle motifs in black. On the back side one can see a few seams (4) where it was joined together to form this large piece. The 'top' edge of the tapa has been folded, where it was folded over a coir sennit rope when worn to keep the garment (skirt) up. The tapa would have been pleated and the top bit folded and tucked into the coir rope to look very much like a rope. Dyes: Black - most likely from soot. Red/Brown - a red clay is used (mixed with water), often put into the black dye (also) as a fixative in some cases. Also mangrove bark is scraped, and made into a red dye with this clay being mixed in (nowadays if the order for a tapa is needed quickly), we have noted that some women do not use mangrove root, just the red clay by itself.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Kabara Island, Lau Islands, 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: 036365
label: USNM Number
content: E205109-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Garment
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 3.59 m
label: Width - Object
content: 1.54 m