Bark Cloth with Naturalistic Impressions of Fish Description

© Auckland Museum CC BY

Before Research: 

The above piece is a decorated bark cloth found in the Tonga Islands, unfortunately the artist is unknown. The piece depicts rows of very stylized fish, most likely influenced by the fact that they lived on an island and fishing was probably their main source of food. The bark cloth itself is positioned as a vertical piece with alternating lines of flowers and fish. The fish, in form, seem very simplistic but each fish is given special care and no two fish are the same. Given the nature of the bark cloth and the area this was most likely given to one of the fishermen, probably one that has just come of age or has just completed a rite of passage.

After Research:

Bark cloths, also known as Tapa Cloths, were made by the women of Tonga and were very important given that they were used for rites of passage and to signify partnerships between families or political figures. These decorated bark cloths are made by placing the cloth over a wood carving, by rubbing dye onto the cloth it would take the image of whatever was on the wood. Given that each one was different, as each woman had her own style, there were different values to each one and a difference on the importance of it and whether it would be used in ceromony or partnership. Bark cloths were also used to tell narrative stories, as opposed to just using them to show their environment.

Reference:

O'Riley, Michael Kampen. "Western Polynesia: Tonga and Samoa." O'Riley, Michael Kampen. Art Beyond the West. Ashville: Pearson Prentice Hall, n.d. 219-220.