Tapa cloth bucket hat

Tapa cloth hat

This is a small bucket hat made from pieces of Tongan ngatu (decorated tapa cloth) machine sewn together with a cloth lining inside the crown section. Ngatu is the Tongan name given to tapa cloth or decorated bark cloth. It is made from the inner bark of Hiapo (paper mulberry tree). The pieces of bark are beaten with a mallet, widened and joined together to make larger pieces of cloth. Groups of women use natural dyes and pigments to decorate the cloth with motifs and patterns taken from the natural environment or associated with important people and events. The pieces of ngatu used to make this hat were probably cut from a much larger piece.

Tapa cloth and design

In the 1990s and early 21st centuries decorated bark cloth from the Pacific Islands featured in a range of commercially produced textiles, garments, bags, hats and accessories. The motifs and design elements from Tongan ngatu were especially popular and found their way onto wrapping paper, diaries, ring binders other forms of stationery and even household crockery and ceramics. This hat is an example of an item that was part of these developments and the commercial applications of tapa cloth across a range of media.

Acquisition History

This hat was purchased by museum staff in the mid 1990s from the Vault Design Store in Willis Street Wellington, New Zealand. At the time Vault Design Store specialised in selling"hip and cool" designer objects. The hat was made in New Zealand under a label called "COURAGE".