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Description: | Tapa cloth beater possibly from Niue. Part of a collection made by William Kershaw, Able Seaman on 'John Williams I'. The handle and end is decorated with a pattern of dots. One side is not ridged. Formerly in the collections of the London Missionary Society. It was used for making a paper-like cloth. The finest sort was made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Strips of bark were rolled up outer side inwards, tied and left to dry. The bark was was then soaked in water to soften and the outer layer scraped off. Then it was beaten on a smooth board until it formed a flexible sheet. The resulting thin cloth could be thickened by beating several sheets together or strips could be joined side by side to make a larger sheet.
Samuel Ella 'Polynesian native clothing', 'Journal of the Polynesian Society' Sept 1899. | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Subjects: | William Kershaw | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
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