Bark Cloth
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: VERY LARGE BARK CLOTH PAINTED ENTIRELY IN BLACK, WITHOUT ANY DECORATION. THE BARK CLOTH IS VERY BRITTLE, AND ON SOME PARTS OF THE REVERSE SIDE THERE IS A PATTERN RESEMBLING A FISH NET. THE WATERMARK IS ONE OF THE PARALLEL LINES. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A SHROUD, OR MOURNING CLOTH. HAS ORIGINAL PEALE TAG; ALSO OLD SHIPPING LABEL READS, "B[ARRE]L. NO 4 TAPA FROM SAMOA, NOV 1839". EXAMINED AND SAMPLED BY KENNETH P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, JUNE 1941.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "3439-51. CAT. 3449, ORIG. ?. TAPA, HEAVY BROWNISH. SAMOA. 13' X 16.5'. GLAZED SOLID BLACK ON ONE SIDE. ORIG. LABEL. "BL. NO. 4 TAPA FROM SAMOA., NOV. 1839). VERY SMALL SAMPLE TAKEN BY K. P. EMORY, 6/24/41."
label: Notes
content: Peale catalogue identifies this tapa, Peale # 1014, as collected in Samoa, however Adrienne Kaeppler, Curator for Oceania Ethnology, has identified it as a Fijian type, Sept. 2013.
label: Notes
content: Large tapa, completely coated with a black "glaze" on one side. The opposite side is a light brown, with many areas of brown/black color, seemingly having saturated through from the other side. There does not appear to be an intentional pattern of the dark color on this unglazed side. However, visible on this reverse side is a small area of a net-like impression, with connected triangles. Also apparent on this side are parallel beater marks, that often cross others, forming cross hatch designs.
label: Notes
content: This tapa is stored rolled.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 15 Sep 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: American Samoa (not certain), Samoa (not certain) / United States (not certain) / Fiji (not certain), Polynesia (not certain) / Melanesia (not certain)
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Samoan (?)
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: E3449-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 565 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 387 cm