that he be sent color transparencies for study and comparison 

 with his own records at the museum in Leiden. These transparen- 

 cies, sent to him as an addition to his personal resources, he 

 presented to the Rijksmuseum. Thus, the name of Harvard's 

 Botanical Museum has been added to those of other sources of 

 information on bark cloth around the world. 



Professor Kooijman's opinions on the Botanical Museum bark 

 cloth are quoted verbatim. His illustrative references are taken 

 from his Tapa in Polynesia (1972), based on data recorded in the 

 literature and on inspection of museum collections around the 

 world. For his botanical identifications he consulted botanists 

 from the Rijksherbarium, Leiden. Notes supplementing Kooij- 

 man's comments are the result of exhaustive search in the litera- 

 ture, including supplementary data on Polynesian bark cloth 

 from his field study, Tapa on Moce Island, Fiji (1977). 



Nash Lecture Hall-Lab. 7 pieces: ("the Minns Tapas") 

 Accession number 8610 (same for all). 



Case 407: 5'3" X 3'7'/ 2 "(158 X 110 cm); black on ecru. 



Case 408: 48" X 34" ( 1 1 3 X 85 cm); black and brown on ecru. ( Both 

 are circular patterns). 



Case 407: "I do not think there could be much doubt as to their 

 Samoan origin. Elements of the pattern of 407 supporting this 

 idea are the row of triangular points at the outside (T.i.P. Fig. 

 222), the frequent use of hourglass-shaped motifs (T.i.P. Fig. 

 185), and the central figure which is probably related to the 

 swastika figure (T.i.P. Fig. 220 shows such a figure consisting of 

 four elements). Moreover, the inner part of the pattern seems to 

 suggest a turning movement . . . not uncommon in the decoration 

 of Samoan tapas (T.i.P. Figs. 211-216, 220)." 



Case 408: "The pattern of 408 is static in character. The central 

 motif equals the one in T.i.P. Fig. 220. This pattern also shows 

 rows of triangular points. The second circuit from the middle is 

 filled with a rectilineardecoration comparable to the one in T.i.P. 

 Fig. 181. The row of motifs in the first circuit remain a puzzle." 



Note: These motifs suggest the shape of the stingray, with zigzag 

 tail representing motion. According to Grzimek's Animal Life 



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