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Samoan

Tapa Cloth

Samoan, 1919-1948

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Samoan

Tapa Cloth

Samoan, 1919-1948

Physical Qualities Bark, pigment, 118 1/8 x 78 3/4 in. (300 x 200 cm.)
Credit Line Gift of Dale C. Brumbaugh, Baltimore
Object Number 1996.131
Straight dark brown painted lines define 5 columns and 8 rows; complex patterns are created with design board and overpainting; designs easiest to see are in columns 1 & 3 or 3 & 5 (left to right, or right to left) which contain 4-pointed stars alternately filled in with dark brown, or as negative space defined by dark brown surround and filled with dark brown circular center and repeated, nested) (straight dark brown painted lines define 5 columns and 8 rows; complex patterns are created with design board and overpainting; designs easiest to see are in columns 1 & 3 or 3 & 5 (left to right, or right to left) which contain 4-pointed stars alternately filled in with dark brown, or as negative space defined by dark brown surround and filled with dark brown circular center and repeated, nested) Red and brown pigments
Kevin Tervala, "The Matter of Bark Cloth," Baltimore Museum of Art, May 7-October 1, 2023.
BMA Today, Issue 171, Summer 2023, cover and p. 2

Culture

Samoan

2000–2000

Meet Samoan

Explore the Collection Further

Samoan
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1941
Fijian
Tapa Cloth (Masi)
1900–1932