Details

IPSMG:ISH.2021.216

Ipswich Collections

Exhibition panel or label describing two barkcloth objects; 'The Native cloth and the Riva Riva of the Sandwich I's. The dress is the State dress of the Society I's: a similar one was presented to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and worn by him and worn by him at one of the receptions. The cloth on which the Riva Riva is sewn is made from the bark of the Breadfruit Tree. Women made it by stripping the bark & beating it out; the bark the stripping of the bark destroys the tree, and the dresses were formerly only worn by the chiefs. The Riva-Riva is obtained from the young leaves at the heart of the Cocoa-Nut tree, and is the bark of the leaves, before they open to the light. It requires the clear and neat hand of a woman to strip it, and there is no preparation required. The tree is destoyed by the heart being removed. Twenty to thirty trees are required for a full dress; ten for a smaller one. Pres'd by Miss Goose, Lower Brook St'.

19th Century, late, 20th Century, early