Costume mat

The use of this small, fine textile is not documented, but it is almost certainly a woman's head mat. It was probably made in Maewo, an island in northern Vanuatu, where women have long been famous for their mat making skills. Their products range from small, fine items of costume through to floor coverings and large mats used in ceremonial presentations. Mats are important items of exchange at weddings. Some are used in rituals; some are considered dangerous items connected with sorcery.

Materials and decoration techniques
Many of the mats from the islands of Ambae, Maewo, and Pentecost are coloured with a distinctive red dye. A few, however, are not coloured, and instead often feature distinctive openwork patterns. The undyed mats were women's head mats and were made particularly on Maewo.

Significance
This costume mat was collected in the late nineteenth century by Mrs E Colenso, who worked in Vanuatu as a missionary. It was passed down through her family to a relative, Mrs Swabey, who presented it to the Dominion Museum in 1961. It is probably the oldest of Te Papa's small but important collection of Vanuatu textiles dating from around the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.