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.

	View of reverse side
	Close up of a corner
	Learn More Tapa Cloth: 2004.16.0001 Other Tapa Cloths in the Permanent Collection: 1924.06.0002