Robe made of barkcloth

Robe made of barkcloth

Hawaii
native clothing

The barkcloth also known as Tapa cloth was a common piece of cloth found in Hawaii during the years of European exploration. Barkcloth was used for many things excluding clothing such as paintings. The art of weaving barkcloth was often practiced by women. Missionary women during this period frowned upon Hawaiian nakedness and during the course of the 19th century sook to westernise attire of the Hawaiian’s as a means to their salvation.
This robe belonged to a King. This gives us an idea of the value of barkcloth material as during the 19th century, barkcloth was expensive due to its light weight. Eventually, the barkcloth material was replaced by cotton and other materials, highlighting the successes of the missionaries in westernising the islands.

Unknown

British Museum Collection Online, Africa, Oceania & the Americas. Registration number: Oc. 1454

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=513263&partId=1&searchText=hawaii+19th+century&page=1
Museum/Registration number: Oc. 1454/

1824

Alisha Mehta

British Museum Collection Online, Africa, Oceania & the Americas. Registration number: Oc. 1454 http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=513263&partId=1&searchText=hawaii+19th+century&page=1
Museum/Registration number: Oc. 1454/

N/A

Material object - textiles

19th century Hawai'i