1950s Large Graphic Fijian Bark Cloth Painting

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Remarkable graphic painting on tree bark from Fiji. Bark cloth is beaten from fibrous vines, and then painted freehand with … Read more Remarkable graphic painting on tree bark from Fiji. Bark cloth is beaten from fibrous vines, and then painted freehand with abstract motifs and designs that reference the natural environment. Set in a custom light wood frame.

Bark cloth, or tapa, is not a woven material, but made from inner bark taken from several types of trees or shrubs, often mulberry and fig, and softened through an ancient and highly labor-intensive process of soaking, beating, and stretching by hand, until it forms a supple cloth-like surface. Designs are then applied with paints and vegetable dyes of light brown, red, and black. The overlapping fibers and irregularities, that reveal the maker’s hand, are hallmarks of authenticity. See less