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Object Number 18-20-70/D1149
Display Title Hand-painted loincloth
Descriptions
Object Description Man's loin cloth of tapa is long, narrow, medium-light weight diaphanous tapa cloth of a single continuous strip of beaten inner bark fibers decorated with freehand linear designs on one side. The fibers are somewhat coarse in nature, although the cloth is pounded thin and fine; bark fibers retain much of their original structural character--distinct fiber bundles, grain long, and many unpatched branch holes scattered throughout; the cloth is crisp, with a stiff, almost rigid hand; one side of the cloth is decorated overall with a two-color freehand painted linear design; design laid out in narrow black lines (colorant matte and opaque), over which selected areas are filled with a brush applied translucent light reddish-brown colorant.
Inventory Description Tapa cloth, narrow, brown with painted black linear designs
Classification
  • Tapa
Department Ethnographic
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
Oceania / Papua New Guinea / <State> / New Britain
Dimensions Overall: 315 x 44 cm (124 x 17 5/16 in.)
Quantity 1

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