Samoan Tapa Cloth?

A friend gave these to me 20-some years ago and they've been in a cupboard ever since, but they're pretty cool and in very good shape--not even worn at the folds. My husband doesn't want to hang them so I am looking to learn whether they're worth pressing the point or letting someone else enjoy them.

How can you tell if they're tourist junk or good quality? And about how much would they be worth? The one with leaves is 39"x48" and the one with diagonal lines is 32"x44". Thanks for any info!​

 

You'll have to hit up some auction sites were Tapa has been sold in the past couple of years.
And maybe a couple of Oceanic sites where similar items are for sale, to get some asking prices.
Value will also depend on where you are and how you're thinking of selling these.
They are not junk.....(you have a nice friend).... but I can not speak to their age from just a photo.

 

Yes, they are Samoan tapa, officially siapo, in Samoan. (And I especially like the second one, it's very graphic!)

I certainly wouldn't call them tourist junk. Tourists do buy them, of course, but so do Samoans. Siapo is an appropriate gift for just about any occasion, and is a centuries-old Samoan art with a rich cultural heritage.

Unfortunately, it's becoming almost a lost art today, since it is very time-consuming to produce, and takes a good deal of skill to make. Samoan siapo generally sells for more than comparable-sized tapa from Fiji or Tonga, but most people don't know the difference, and you see tapa cloth misidentified all the time on line, which makes it difficult to price accurately.

I'd recommend the book Siapo, Bark Cloth Art of Samoa, by Mary J. Pritchard (the recognized authority on the topic, and one of the greatest siapo artists)...if you can find it.

 

Gosh, thank you so much for taking the time to educate me! I have held on to them because I really like them and, ignorant as I was, thought they were paper until I started researching. I will try to do something good with them. Thanks for suggesting the book. I will try to get it!

 

I didn't mean to imply that the Siapo book would help with pricing, it won't. But it will help recognize what to look for when checking various sources on line, and making sure the tapa being offered is actually Samoan.

Another (possibly more accessible) book is Traditional Tapa Textiles of the Pacific by Roger Neich and Mick Pendergrast, which covers tapa cloth from 16 or so Pacific islands.

 

Thank you for your time and trouble to reply. My friend was selling them (

probably for $5 each!) ​

at a garage sale and gave them to me after they didn't sell... I think she bought them on a trip to Hawaii years before, so neither of us knew what she had! I think they're lovely and have kept them all these years. Probably will keep them...

 

Thank you. No, I get it. I'm generally interested in learning more, especially if I keep them. I have to talk my husband into enjoying them on a wall somewhere!

 

make him think it was his idea.....after explaining how much you love them....

 

Just a word of caution...collecting siapo can be addictive! You've got two already, and a third would mean it's officially a collection.... And the more you learn about them, chances are you are going to want more. (I speak from experience, here...)

You don't have to hang them all, but I recommend storing them loosely rolled up over a foam tube, rather than folded, when you start acquiring more. Samoan tapa is pretty good for this method, since they are generally in a smaller size range than, say, Tongan ones.

I keep most of mine on a long shelf on one wall in the (former) guest room. They look nice even with just the backs showing. That way you can check them periodically, and switch the ones out that you display.

 

I remember Mary Pritchard and the sisters who were teaching tapa art in American Samoa back in the 1970s, my brother studied with them when he was at Faga'itua High school. They were worried about the art dying out 40 years ago. Nice to see some more. The designs she taught were very geometric and in three colors and quite a bit of info online. http://www.siapo.com/design-elements.html

 

Here is a nice paper online "The art of Samoan Siapo" By Paul Tauiliili.
Fa'afetai tele lava for bringing back fond memories
https://www.americanquarterly.org/sites/default/files/Castro PDF.pdf

 

Welcome, Katie, and thank you so much for showing us. Please display at least one of them, if you can.
We have a Fijian tapa cloth which we got for our wedding. We'd love to display it, but is too big. Even the preferred rolling up storage method, which Taupou suggested as well, would really mean having one room especially for the tapa, so it is folded. I do check it regularly for damage, and it still looks as good as when we got it. I just want to see it displayed, but we don't have a museum.

 

AJ, I don't really believe that for a single minute!!!

 

Which part?

 

"We don't have a museum."

 

I'd call it a mini-museum closely resembling a pawn shop.