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Samoan, Samoa

Long wrap skirt (lavalava), 1900-1945

Description

Maker

Culture

Samoan

Title

Long wrap skirt (lavalava)

Year

1900-1945

Medium

Beaten bark fiber, freehand painting with cut border

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Techniques

Dimensions

Length: 109.2 cm (43 inches)

Place

Samoa

Type

Credit

Gift of Captain and Mrs. Robert Chew

Object Number

46.489

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Cloth Without Weaving

November 1, 2000 - February 18, 2001

According to one Polynesian legend, the tapa-making goddess Rina was banished to the moon by the god Tangaroa because he was disturbed by the incessant noise of her anvil. Beating the thick bark strips into thin sheets is often a communal activity for the women, and some groups harmonize their rhythmic beats during tapa-making or even telegraph messages to nearby villages by the ringing of their tapa anvils.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Long wrap skirt (lavalava) with the accession number of 46.489. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.