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Board made to imprint a pattern rubbed onto bark cloth. Likely from Samoa, Fiji or Tonga. Elongated triangle shape made by sewing coconut and bamboo strips onto pandanus leaves, creating a raised pattern. The barkcloth (siapo in Samoa, masi in Fiji and ngatu in Tonga) is rubbed over the form and colored with dye, creating a repeatable pattern. The rubbing tablet is called upeti in Samoa, kupeti in Fiji and kupesi in Tonga.
patterns (guides)
leaf (plant material)
coconut (fruit)
coir
Pattern
Original to Phillips House (Salem, Mass.),
FD055
Unknown
Tonga, Fiji or Samoa, Pacific Island Group
18 1/8 (W) (inches)
Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation
2006.44.1450
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