Tapa Or Bark Cloth
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Collector
content: Lt. William L. Maury
label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "3268-74. 3273 ORIG. NO. 1442."
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: Nearly square in shape. According to Adrienne Kaeppler, Curator of Oceania Ethnology, the border design is typically Fijian and central design is Tongan. The combination would reflect a tapa from the Lau Islands, centrally located between Fiji and Tonga. Per Dr. Kaeppler, this piece would be used for funerals, and presentations at weddings. It is quite thin overall and seems to be made in one layer, except where joined. Tapa is made from many small rectangular sheets, at least 20 or more have been adhered together with overlapping seams. Tapa is almost completely covered with applied designs on the front. Large central design is a light brown fine linear repeating pattern of parallel short lines in various configurations probably applied with a pattern board. This design has a more Samoan influence? Narrow dark shiny (glazed) applied lines define the central design into repeating large rectangles and additional lines from large repeating diamonds and triangles. Additional design elements include solid dark brown circles with a very glossy surface. The wide decorative borders on the short sides (47 cm/18.5 inches wide) have fine linear patterns in black and dark red made from multiple stenciled designs. These are more Fijian in design. These sides have a fringed border of wide triangular fringes. Small rectangular segments of tapa have been adhered to the back in isolated locations. These "repairs" appear to have been made during manufacture possibly to reinforce weak areas. Original Peale number is present. Also has a deteriorated rectangular paper tag reading: "ExEx 5 tapas Wm L. Maury [William Lewis Maury, naval officer on the U.S. Exploring Expedition]". This implies that Maury might have collected it for the expedition.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 Jul 2020
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: E3273-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 335 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 288.3 cm