Kapa stamp from Hawaii, or ohe kapala. Thin bamboo strip with incised pattern of closely aligned chevrons followed by four diamond shapes, each incised with two small triangle shapes. Carved into the end of one side. The stamp would be dipped in paint and pressed onto kapa cloth to create a repeated decorative pattern. Old paint/dye residue clearly visible in grooves of stamp.Kapa (the Hawaiian word for tapa), is barkcloth made from the inner bark of certain trees (usually paper mulberry) and widely used throughout the Pacific Islands as clothing and sleeping covers, as well as for secular, sacred and ceremonial uses.
stamping (marking)
tapa (bark cloth)
bamboo (material)
Stamp, Marking
Original To Stephen Phillips House (Salem, Mass.),
Unknown
Pacific Island Group
1/4 x 1/8 (WxD) (inches)
Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation
2006.44.3659
full digital version available on Google Play
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].