Fabric Type 8

masi ni tubetube e na soqo

Description

A fabric produced in the Noikoro district of Namosi chiefdom in the south-western highlands of Viti Levu, Fiji; possibly also other areas of Colo. It is generally quite grey, and distinctive for its zones of black or brown rubbed linear decoration (seemingly an imported technique of Tongan origin) and the liner-stamp printed lines in black and red (a locally invented technique otherwise found only in Hawai‘i).

References

  • Ewins, R. (1982). Fijian artefacts: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery collection. Hobart: Tasmanian Museum
  • Roth, K. (1934). The manufacture of bark-cloth in Fiji (Navatusila, Viti Levu Island). Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 64: 289-303

Images

The Hunterian GLAHM E.417/5. Colour photo of a sample of a Fijian malo loincloth, which combines linear rubbed decoration in its dark zones and linear stamp-printed elements in the light zone. It is from the Noikoro district of Namosi chiefdom in south-western central Viti Levu. (Copyright The Hunterian, University of Glasgow)
The Hunterian GLAHM E.417/5. A sample of a Fijian malo loincloth, from the Noikoro district of Namosi chiefdom in south-western central Viti Levu. (© The Hunterian, University of Glasgow)

Version

Entry created on 28 August 2020