Bark Cloth, Colored
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: "4388-4402. CAT. 4388, ORIG. 1453 TAPA, 4'11" X 5'11". GLAZED. SAMPLE TAKEN BY K. P. EMORY, 6/24/41. CASE 26."
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: Rectangular piece of coarse bark cloth with a decorated and glazed surface. The bark cloth appears to be a cut section from a larger piece. It has three cut edges (the two parallel shorter edges may have been intentionally cut at time of manufacture) and the fourth edge has a lacey, layered and natural colored border, which averages five inches wide along its length. On the top side there are dark burgundy colored bands of colorant on all borders except for along the long cut edge. A central wide stripe of the same colorant runs the length of the cloth. All other areas are pigmented solid black. Both the black colorant and the dark burgundy colorant were applied with a glaze and appear shiny. There is faint evidence of a line decoration (presumably made with a pattern or design board) running more or less diagonally across the cloth forming slightly raised ridges about 0.5 cm apart. Barely discernable remnants of the original Peale paper label with "1453" (partially obliterated) are present centrally located on back of bark cloth.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 1 Jul 2022
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: E4388-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Unknown - Object
content: 150 cm
label: Unknown - Object
content: 180 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 193 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 160 cm