A large tapa cloth was donated to the Museum in December of 2004 by Ethel Depper. Tapa cloth is a high quality bark cloth, a fabric made from the soft inner bark of trees found in the Pacific Islands. This cloth was purchased in Hawaii more than 40 years ago.
Finding a large uncut piece of tapa cloth is rare. The cloth was produced in a traditional fashion, which currently is not being replicated in the tourist or foreign market, making it a valuable representation of an early production technique.
This piece enhances the Museum's current holdings of twelve small tapa cloth fragments currently in the collection.
Learn more:
- Tapa Cloth (2004.16.0001)
- Other Tapa Cloths in the Permanent Collection (1924.06.0002)
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