Vintage Hawaiian Tapa Bark Cloth Painted Geometric Pacific Islands 49 1/2\" X 75\"


Vintage Hawaiian Tapa Bark Cloth Painted Geometric Pacific Islands 49 1/2\

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.


Buy Now

Vintage Hawaiian Tapa Bark Cloth Painted Geometric Pacific Islands 49 1/2\" X 75\":
$129.00


Vintage Hawaiian Tapa Bark Cloth Painted Geometric Pacific Islands 49 1/2\" X 75\"
Block printed Tapa cloth, large. 49 1/2 inches by 75 inches. This is not a \'tapa print\' which is generally geometric block print-style patterns on a cotton, rayon or other type of existing fabric, this is actual TAPA.
Tapa is what was worn in the Pacific Islands before the western influences came into play. Technically a paper, tapa is made from pounded vegetable fibers and then printed with block designs or painted by hand. From Wikipedia :
\"InTongahiapois the name given to the paper mulberry tree. People have bunches of them growing in a corner of their plantations.They are cut and brought home where the first task is to strip the bark from the trees. The strips are about hand wide and person long. The wood left over is namedmokofute. The bark consists of two layers; the outer bark is scraped or split off from the inner bark. This work is calledhaʻalo. The outer bark is discarded; the inner bark, namedtutuorloututu, is left over. It is dried in the sun before being soaked.
Tapa can be decorated by rubbing, stamping, stencilling, smoking (Fiji: \"masi Kuvui\") or dyeing. The patterns of Tongan, Samoan, and Fijian tapa usually form a grid of squares, each of which contains geometric patterns with repeated motifs such as fish and plants, for example four stylised leaves forming a diagonal cross. Traditional dyes are usually black and rust-brown, although other colours are known.\"
I cannot tell the age by looking, but I would guess it to be from the 1960s although it could be far older.
Ships from Charlotte NC.

Vintage Hawaiian Tapa Bark Cloth Painted Geometric Pacific Islands 49 1/2\" X 75\":
$129.00

Buy Now