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Object Number 14-29-70/85716
Display Title Tapa cloth
Descriptions
Object Description Masi kesa. Long, rectangular, lightweight tapa cloth with evenly beaten white inner bark fibers and minimal surface texture. The cloth is composed of two lengths of single-thickness (84" and 82") pasted together. The fiber direction is oriented along the long axis of the cloth. One side is decorated with a stencilled and freehand painted design predominantly in black pigment with some shiny brown details. Elongated triangle and diamond-shaped motifs with diagonal striping composes central region of the cloth, surrounded by a border of spiked concentric diamonds. The long edges feature thin black-striped fringes. "85716" is written in orange paint on one of the shorter edges. See Kooijman Tapa in Polynesia page 380 for design reference to a cloth collected in 1830s.
Inventory Description Tapa cloth, rectangular, painted black geometric design, fringed on two sides
Classification
  • Tapa
Department Ethnographic
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
Oceania / Fiji
Dimensions Overall: 420 x 84 cm (165 3/8 x 33 1/16 in.)
Quantity 1
Label on object 85716 / ##/#
Provenance
Collector Dr. William McMichael Woodworth
Donor Museum of Comparative Zoology (1914)

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PrimaryMedia Object Number Title Classification Geography/Provenience SHARE
Tapa cloth
14-29-70/85717 Tapa cloth
Tapa
Fiji
Sash of tapa cloth, Fijian masi
91-6-70/50769.4 Sash of tapa cloth, Fijian masi
Tapa
Fiji
Decorated tapa
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Tapa
Fiji
Tapa cloth
14-29-70/85710 Tapa cloth
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Image Not Available for Smoke-toned tapa
36-45-70/337.2 Smoke-toned tapa
Piece of tapa cloth
34-137-70/298 Piece of tapa cloth
Tapa
Niaufo'ou (Tin Can Island)
Decorated tapa
99-15-70/53900 Decorated tapa
Tapa
Samoa
Long piece of black and white tapa cloth
36-45-70/335 Long piece of black and white tapa cloth
Tapa
Fiji
White tapa cloth
98-8-70/51691 White tapa cloth
Tapa
Fiji
Tapa cloth
14-29-70/85709 Tapa cloth
Tapa
Fiji
Sash of tapa cloth, Fijian masi
91-6-70/50769.1 Sash of tapa cloth, Fijian masi
Tapa
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Tapa cloth
99-15-70/53901 Tapa cloth
Tapa
Samoa