The Anthropology Division of the Yale Peabody Museum holds a collection of 180
Pacific tapa, or barkcloth. These wonderful examples of art and cultural heritage continue to
be of interest to researchers and professors. Made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree and
decorated with natural paints and dyes, they range in length from 1.5ft (0.5m) to 14ft (4m).
In 2014 the Division received a grant to rehouse 8,000+ objects in the Oceania Ethnographic
collection from sub-standard conditions into modern storage at a new facility. During that
process it was clear that these fragile objects had been either tightly rolled on narrow (1.5in
or <4cm) tubes or folded into wooden drawers. They therefore needed a significant amount
of care, and a new storage solution. With museum conservators, we undertook a project to
systematically relax, mend, photograph, reroll, and add a protective cover to each before
rehousing them on new hardware.
To make these objects visible to others, and limit the amount of handling to them in the future,
photography was performed in the visible, ultraviolet and infrared spectra. The images are now
available on the Peabody Museum’s website: http://collections.peabody.yale.edu/search/