The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Tapa Cloth Beater (l'e kuku)
before 1930
Overall: 38.7 cm (15 1/4 in.)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Munro 1971.152
Location: not on view
Description
To make tapa, a decorated bark cloth, Hawaiian women used the four-sided beater to pound the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree, softened by a week of soaking in sea water. The cloth was beaten in several stages, starting with the most coarsely grooved side of the mallet and gradually reaching the finest grooved side. Although many Polynesian groups produced tapa cloth, only Hawaiian tapa cloth beaters were incised with a variety of "watermark" patterns. The prepared cloth was decorated with overlaying, cord snapping, free-hand painting, and printing techniques.- Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
- {{cite web|title=Tapa Cloth Beater (l'e kuku)|url=false|author=|year=before 1930|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.152