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Tapa fragment of unknown origin, but likely from Fiji, Tonga or Samoa. Stamped design of vertical and horizontal lines in brown and black. Corner edge is outlined with a thick black border. Fragment was cut from the corner of a larger sample at some point, leaving four "strings" on the left edge. Tapa is a cloth made from the inner bark of trees and is widely used in the Pacific for clothing and bedding, as well as secular, sacred, and ceremonial uses.
tapa (bark cloth)
tapa (bark cloth)
Original To Stephen Phillips House (Salem, Mass.),
Unknown
Pacific Island Region
6 x 9 3/8 (HxW) (inches)
Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation
2006.44.3671
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