Mid 20th C. South Pacific Islands Tapa Cloth

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Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Jul 25, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-07-25 10:00:00 2019-07-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/pre-columbian-tribal-ethnographic-4291
Featuring ancient and ethnographic art from around the world, including Pre-Columbian, Native American, African / Tribal, Ethnographic, Spanish Colonial, Fossils, Fine Art, much more. Many Oceanic pieces from an important Tucson, Arizona collection, first time at auction!! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  South Pacific Islands, possibly Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, Tonga, the Cook Islands, or Papua New Guinea, ca. mid 20th century CE. A beautifully designed tapa bark cloth, made from trees endemic to the Oceanic islands - initially, the dye-fig followed by the paper mulberry tree, which was introduced to the South Pacific from Southeast Asia. The floral and geometric motifs decorations are delineated in plum brown, black, and cream hues. Tapa is a particular kind of bark cloth that is made in the South Pacific Islands, mainly Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, but also as far afield as Hawaii and New Zealand. Tapa was introduced to the western world by Captain Cook's expedition; Cook collected it and brought it to Europe. The cloth is of great social importance and is often given as a gift. Once used as everyday wear, tapa cloths are still used today for ceremonial occasions - sometimes made into clothing and masks for dances or offerings for marriages and funerals. They also make impressive wall decorations. Size: 25.625" L x 23.5" W (65.1 cm x 59.7 cm)
  
  According to the curatorial staff at Harvard University's Peabody Museum: "For hundreds of years, tapamaking was one of the most sophisticated plant-fiber technologies in the Pacific Islands. In the eighteenth century and before, tapa served as both daily and ceremonial clothing. It was made into headdresses, turbans, loincloths, sashes, girdles, skirts, and ponchos. The cloth was used for bedcovers, wall dividers, or mosquito curtains as well as for special wrappings of staff gods, for the outer layer of sculptures, for wrapping skulls, and for masks. Individuals were surrounded by tapa at birth, weddings, and death. Special cloths were made for dowries, diplomatic gifts, and treaty agreements. Large-scale accumulation of tapa signified wealth and aided in achieving status. It was also used to pay tribute. Barkcloth material, partially processed or as undecorated sheets, was an important trade item and was exchanged for plaited mats, adzes, whaleteeth, and sandalwood. Eventually, the increased availability of woven cotton cloth made in Asia and Europe led to a significant decline of hand-produced tapa, altered its use, and encouraged further changes in the ways in which tapa was decorated." (https://www.peabody.harvard.edu/node/2271)
  
  Provenance: private Newport Beach, California, USA collection
  
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  #141579

  Condition

  Expected creases and fold marks as shown. Minor fraying/minute losses to corners and edges as shown.
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