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: BARK CLOTH MOSQUITO TENT WITH RUBBED ON "UPETI" (design board or tablet) DESIGNS IN A REDDISH BROWN, WITH LINES PAINTED IN DARK BROWN DIVIDING THE RUBBED DESIGNS INTO PANELS. WITHIN THE PANELS ARE LARGE DARK BROWN DOTS AND DOUBLE XX'S. THE PIECE HAS A WHITE BORDER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TENT, A BRAIDED COCONUT FIBER CORD RUNNING THROUGH THE TOP PORTION FOR SUSPENSION, AND THE SIDES ARE CLOSED BY A FOLD ON ONE SIDE AND BY A SEAM ON THE OTHER. HAS ORIGINAL PEALE TAG. LABEL ON CORD: "3436 SAMOA SLEEPING TENT & HOUSE CAPT. C. WILKES U.S.A. ORIG. # 1013". THESE "TENTS" WERE APPARENTLY SUSPENDED FROM THE CEILING OF HOUSES TO ENCLOSE A SLEEPING MAT.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "3433-6. #3436 VERY LARGE. CAT. 3436, ORIG. ? VERY LARGE SHEET OF TYPICAL SAMOAN TAPA, 'UPETI DESIGN LABELED "SLEEPING TENT & HOUSE". LONG 5' BRAIDED CORD (NOT SENNIT) ATTACHED TO ONE CORNER. VERY SMALL SAMPLE TAKEN BY K.P. EMORY, 6/24/41."
label: Notes
content: Tapa is constructed from a single large tapa that has been folded in half to create a bag. It is folded along one short side and seamed along the other short side. It is also seamed along one long side. The seams are stitched on the interior along a folded seam edge using a heavy tan 2 ply thread probably made from barkcloth. Tapa is constructed from at least three layers. However no seams were located where pieces of tapa would be joined together to form the single large sheet. On the short seamed side hte edge is finished 15 cm short of the open edge. Tapa is almost completely covered with applied designs on both sides. Overall is a light brown fine linear pattern of lines and dashes probably applied with a pattern board. Narrow dark shiny applied lines define the space into large rectangles. Additional design elements include dark brown solid circles, barred XX's and crossed lines. There are narrow bands of white tapa along the seamed edges and a wide 22 cm band along the opening on both sides. A length of three strand braided sennit? cordage runs along the interior long seam and extends through the tapa at both corners. At one corner it extends for 188 cm and appears complete with a finished end. At the other corner it extends for 25 cm and appears partial with a frayed end. The openings for the cordage are stitched and reinforced with the same thread used for the seams. Has original Peale # label.
label: Notes
content: Illustrated Fig. 17.5, p. 264 in Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 2019. "A Kato Mosi Kaka and other Treasures from Tonga from the US Exploring Expedition." In Collecting and Provenance: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach. Milosch, Jane and Pearce, Nick, editors. 257–268. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Identified as a barkcloth mosquito tent and as more probably originally made in Tonga rather than Samoa. "... attributed to Samoa. It is more likely to be Tongan, however, as Samoans usually did not make such large pieces of barkcloth, and when needed they acquired them from Tonga. The designs are typical of both Tonga and Samoa and may show original Tongan designs from a kupesi rubbing board, with black elongated "x"s and triangles added by hand to make it "Samoan".
label: Record Last Modified
content: 16 Sep 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: American Samoa (not certain), Samoa (not certain) / United States (not certain), Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Samoan (?)
label: Culture
content: Tongan (?)
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: E3436-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Width - Object
content: 325 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 270 cm
label: Thickness - Object
content: 0.1 cm