Lot 580
Beautiful Vintage Tapa Cloth (Barkcloth) Long Table Runner from Fiji. Tapa is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji (where it is called uha or masi), and even as far as Niue (called hiapo), Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii (where it is called kapa). Captain Cook's travels to the islands introduced to the world this indigenous islands cloth. Fijian tapa usually form a grid of squares, each of which contains geometric patterns with repeated motifs such as fish and plants. Traditional dyes are usually black and rust-brown, although other colors are known.
The paper mulberry tree is the source of choice for many of these islands. Making this cloth is completely by hand and is fascinating given the level of hand pummeling with wooden mallets to get the wood into strips and after numerous steps convert into whole cloth.
Beautiful, vintage tapa (uha or masi) table runner (or wall hanging) 84" in length and 22" in width with one-sided length of fringe adding 4" to width. Minor evidence of display but colors 100% and the intricate details in the design are incredible. Estimated Value $300 - UP
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| Realized $180 |
