Tapa Island of Vava'u, Tonga Islands - Lot 140

Tapa Island of Vava'u, Tonga Islands H. 190 cm - L. 101 cm Late 19th century, early 20th century Chinese mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) reddish-brown vegetal shade, extracted from the bark of the Bischofia javancia tree. Rectangular in shape, this tapa's surface is superbly decorated with alternating geometrical patterns of triangles, filled with fine motifs, testifying to ancestral know-how and customary tradition, but also to its fascinatingly modern graphics. A frieze of motifs - kupesi - drawn freehand or made by rubbing pigments onto a matrix from which they take their name, inserted beneath the fabric, then hand-ironing the reliefs that emerge with a darker pigment. Over most of the surface, on backgrounds alternating between ochre and ecru, triangles known as tokelaufeletoa - kupesi, a specific form originating from the village of Feletoa in Vava'u, in the shape of inverted triangles. Provenance : French private collection of a decorator, Paris Expert : Aurore KRIER-MARIANI - 06 17 18 11 36