Tapa or Bark Cloth
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Collector
content: Lt. Cadwalader Ringgold
label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "WIDE MALO [MAN'S LOINCLOTH]. ONE END ONLY FINISHED OFF WITH DENTATED FRINGE. SMALL SAMPLE TAKEN BY K.P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, WHO GAVE US THIS INFORMATION, 6/24/41."
label: Notes
content: Peale catalogue identifies # 1411 - 1434 as: "Masi". Cloth made of bark, worn by the men of the Fiji Islands."
label: Notes
content: Long narrow tapa of medium texture made from two layers. One end is finished with dentated fringe and the opposite end appears to be straight cut. On the top side there are two primary designs, both in red and black coloring, rendered in alternating blocks of black and natural colored blocks with line drawings. A section of red colored cross hatching separates the two designs. Design (upeti) boards were used for the designs in black, as well as for the red colored separations. The line designs were drawn on. Per Adrienne Kaeppler, Curator for Oceania Ethnology, black soot from fired kukui nuts was used to provide the black color, and oil from the kukui provides the gloss of the black surface. It appears that 6 distinct sections of tapa were pasted together with arrow root (per Adrienne Kaeppler) to create the length of the tapa. The sections measure from the straight cut end 7' 8", followed by a section 6' 2", followed by a 6' 1" section, followed by a 6' 6" section, followed by a 6' 9" section (the seam here is less visible than the others), and finishing with a 10' 5" section.
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: E3621-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 21 m
label: Width - Object
content: 25 cm