Tapa Conservation Project

Documentation and Condition Assessment

During the museum’s tapa conservation project, conservators examined manufacturing techniques, construction details, and decorative features and recorded these in the museum’s collection management database. They took photographs to document the existing condition of each tapa. These photographs are available to researchers, thus reducing the physical handling of large or fragile cloths.

The current condition of cloths in the collection is varied. They were manufactured using many different techniques. Prior to their acquisition by the museum, many of the tapa were intensively used and exposed to a variety of environmental conditions. The quality and processing of the raw materials, the application of additives during cloth preparation, and the use of coloring materials for decoration affect the long-term preservation of a particular cloth. Evidence of original use, which is important to retain, marks many of these cloths. Exposure to light and pollution since entering the museum has been an important variable affecting the condition of specific tapa pieces.

Materials Research 

Conservators and scientists analyzed samples from several cloths displayed here. This materials research contributed significant information about manufacture, use, current condition, and sources of damage. Conservators at the Peabody were able to investigate why tapa from specific islands showed advanced deterioration and whether this damage was due to manufacturing components or later soiling. Dark particles on the surface of the cloths were studied by conservators at the State University College at Buffalo and by scientists in Harvard’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Preliminary results indicated that for some cloths environmental pollution has been an important contributing factor. Analysis of other cloths suggested, however, that the deterioration was related to the original manufacturing materials themselves.

Cleaning and Crease Reduction

When deemed appropriate, conservators cleaned surfaces by removing soil particles by low-suction controlled vacuuming and with the use of natural bristle brushes. They used dry rubber sponges to remove fine soot-like particles. The conservators used controlled humidification, when necessary, to unfold cloths and to relax storage-related foldlines. 

Stabilization

Occasionally, conservators intervened to stabilize tears and losses. They made repairs with long-fibered archival-quality abaca and paper mulberry papers and archival-quality water-soluble adhesives such as wheat starch paste. Conservators designed these conservation repairs to be stable and nonintrusive, yet still identifiable as recent repairs that are not related to the object’s original use.

Housing and Storage

Conservators constructed three types of protective housing for the cloths: flat, low-profile, and stackable archival-quality paperboard folders or mats; archival-quality lidded boxes with the object’s folds padded as necessary, and tubes covered with a protective wrapping for rolled storage of the tapa. Flat storage was chosen for small tapa and those in poor condition; padded storage was used for items such as tapa clothing; and rolled storage was appropriate for cloths in stable condition.