barktyg, tapa

Ett stycke tapa. 15 meter långt och 2.6 m brett. Rektangulär form men med ojämna kanter beroende på tillverkningssättet, av olika mindre barktygsbitar. En sida nästan helt täckt av stämpeldekor i brunt, tydligen åstadkommen med två olika matriser. Den icke stämplade delen längs de båda kanterna har en målad vinkeldekor. (Orig. nr. 1590) Enligt handskriven lapp: "25 alnar lång och 4 alnar bred".
Jmf. Hooker 1896 pp. 146 - 153.

However, once the tapa began to be unwrapped it became clear that it was not Tahitian. The decoration and motifs indicate a Western Polynesian origin, and Professor Thomas believes it is most likely from Tonga. As Tonga was not visited during the first voyage it suggests that this was collected during Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific. Nicholas highlighted strong parallels between this tapa and one in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford that was collected by the scientists Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster during the second voyage, as well as to other tapa pieces held in Göttingen collections. While Banks was not part of the second or third voyages he acquired objects from men that were, and at later stages he presented many of these objects to gentlemen scientists and collectors. In the late 1770s he gave objects to Johan Alströmer, a Swedish naturalist. By this stage Banks’ collection included objects from the first two voyages, including our Tongan tapa.
Unwrapping such a large piece of tapa is not something that happens frequently so new photography was taken, including the front and back, as well as more accurate measurements and physical descriptions of the object.
Although the tapa proved not to be Tahitian, Nick has said it is the largest piece of tapa with a Cook voyage provenance which remains extant. (O'brien 2017)