Bark Cloth Tapa
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: "3618-24. CAT. 3623. ORIG. 1436. TAPA, BLACK. SHEET, 6'8" X 8'6". SAMPLE TAKEN BY K.P. EMORY, JUNE 24, 1941." FROM CARD: "3622-4. POOR CONDITION, BUT FINE PIECE. (SPECIMEN BEARING THIS NUMBER WAS LOCATED BY MR. K. P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, WHO GAVE US THIS INFORMATION.) 6/24/41."
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: Large rectangular piece of tapa of medium texture made from 14 pieces of rectangularly shaped smaller pieces of tapa, presumably adhered together with arrowroot (per Adrienne Kaeppler, Curator for Oceania Ethnology). This piecing is particularly visible on the back side and appears rather crude. The black design on the top side was made using a design (upeti) board and is similar throughout with cross hatching overall. As part of the design there are black stripes one inch apart running widthwise to the piece except for an area 13 inches on one end where the lines are absent. Black soot from fired kukui nuts was used to provide the black color (per Adrienne Kaeppler). Oil from the kukui provides the gloss of the black surface (Adrienne Kaeppler). Brownish/red colorant is visible under the black colorant. No fringes or other edge decoration. Short ends appear to be straight cut while the long sides are more finished but irregular and wavering. There is a partially delaminating ethnographic repair visible on back side. Has original Peale # label.
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: E3623-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Unknown - Object
content: 2.03 m
label: Unknown - Object
content: 2.6 m
label: Length - Object
content: 285.8 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 203 cm