DateCirca 1940
Donor credit lineGift of Bernard Taradash
Object number2024.26.7
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionSiapo (decorated bark cloth), probably made in ‘Uvea (Wallis) and Futuna. This piece of a Siapo was likely made by a Futuna maker in the early-to-mid 1900s. Decorated bark cloth, commonly called tapa, is made from bark softened through a process of soaking and beating. It is a versatile fabric crafted and used by communities in Oceania for clothing, mats, memorial and sometimes ceremonial purposes. The bark, harvested from several types of trees and shrubs, often mulberry and fig, is pulled off in a single sheet and the inner bark soaked to soften the material. Inks made from the soot and oil of nuts like the candleberry nut are used to decorate the cloth. Tapa are most often created by one maker or family and regarded as an art form historically crafted by women.
Label TextTapa practitioners across the Pacific produced and displayed bark cloth in large numbers for the tourist industry and continue to create works today. This textile illustrates how their manufacture and use changed over time in Pacific communities and beyond. Decorated bark cloth, commonly called tapa, is made from bark softened through a process of soaking and beating. It is a versatile fabric crafted and used by communities in Oceania for clothing, mats, memorial and sometimes ceremonial purposes.
The bark, harvested from several types of trees and shrubs, often mulberry and fig, is pulled off in a single sheet and the inner bark soaked to soften the material. Inks made from the soot and oil of nuts like the candleberry nut are used to decorate the cloth. Tapa are most often created by one maker or family and regarded as an art form historically crafted by women.
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1800s
1800s
1800s
1800s
1800s
1800s
1800s
1800s
1800s
