gloss to its surface. On the other hand, the character of the pattern 

 cannot be questioned. Kooijman (1972) sees "the square and the 

 rectangle containing diagonal lines crossing from the corners [as] 

 one of the basic motifs of the Samoan tapas." This piece may be 

 considered an instance of a Samoan borrowing of a Tongan 

 technique. 



In addition to his identification of the group of all nine exam- 

 ples of Polynesian bark cloth in the Botanical Museum, Kooij- 

 man provided information on one of two other tapas that round 

 out the collection: 



Fifth floor corridor, mounted on wall. 

 Accession number 8615 (iden. ACR, Hand 1 1 D)7'5"X6'3"(223 

 X 183 cm); black on white. 



"I found your ACR No. 11(1 1-D)in my own file. I photographed 

 the tapa in 1954 during my research in museums in New England. 

 The piece was not localized, and I suggested then that it came 

 from Niue. This localization seems to be corroborated by the 

 similarity of the lowest figure in the second vertical row from the 

 left to one of the figures in T.i.P. Fig. 275. On the other hand, 

 however, the figures in the pattern of the Botanical Museum piece 

 have also elements characteristic of Samoan bark cloth patterns 

 and because of that, I have begun to doubt the Niuean origin. 1 ' 



Note: The white ground of this tapa could have been produced 

 with a wash of white clay. The thickness and stiffness of the bark 

 suggest use of Artocarpus altilis which, according to some 

 reports, furnishes a whiter and stiffer cloth than does Broussone- 



tia papyrifera. 



From whom and at what date the Botanical Museum received 

 this piece is not known. In anticipation of the present study, the 

 four corner areas of its reverse side (where identification is cus- 

 tomarily placed) were examined and no labels were found. Some 

 time after Kooijman's list of provenances was received, this piece 

 was taken down for temporary storage. An examination of the 

 entire reverse side disclosed pasted at the center, a blue-bordered 

 2" X 3" gummed label which showed no sign of age and a green 

 jeweller's tag attached by its string to the bark cloth. Both bear the 



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