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2005.102.8.1

Pair of slippers of woven palm leaf, edged in barkcloth and decorated with a purple dyed plant fibre pompom and ring of shells. [MdeA 08/11/2006]

2005.102.8.1

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Collection type
Object
Description
Pair of slippers of woven palm leaf, edged in barkcloth and decorated with a purple dyed plant fibre pompom and ring of shells. [MdeA 08/11/2006]
Long description
Pair of slippers or sandals. The soles of the shoes are made of woven palm leaf strips which have been covered with barkcloth on the insole and then edged with palm leaf strip. A band of woven strips, lined with barkcloth, has been fixed to the sole forming an upper across the foot, leaving the toes uncovered. The maximum width of this upper section is approximately 105 mm on each shoe. A pompom of dark purple dyed plant fibre has been fixed to the centre of this upper section on each shoe. In the centre of each pompom is a ring of four small shells. [MdeA 08/11/2006]
Person
Field collector Jean Davies
Field collector R.O. Davies
PRM source Jean Davies
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1959
Date collected
1959
Acquisition information
Donated: 01/2006
Materials and processes
Material Bark Cloth Textile Plant, Material Cotton Seed Fibre Yarn Plant, Material Palm Leaf Plant, Material Grass Fibre Plant, Material Shell, Process Woven, Process Stitched, Process Dyed, Process Beaten
Dimensions
Length: max 248 mm, Length: max 248 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 2005.102.8.1 Accession number: 2005.102.8.2
Research and responses

For an account of Pitcairn barkcloth, see Pitcairn Tapa: 'Ahu no Hitiaurevareva, by Pauline Reynolds (Huahine: 'Ana'ana Publishing, 2008). (Copy in Balfour Library.)[JC 3 3 2015]

The PRM's collection of barkcloth from Pitcairn was examined by Pauline Reynolds on 28 September 2010. For a brief account of her visit, see pages 15-16 of her report to The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia (copy in RDF: Researchers: Reynolds). The slippers are number 7 on her list: 'Pair of slippers of woven palm leaf, edged in barkcloth and decorated with purple dyed plant fibre and ring of shells.' [JC 19 2 2015]

Search terms: Clothing Footgear, Barkcloth, Sandal, Shoe

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