Barkcloth (tapa) was made throughout Oceania and used in the same context as woven fabric. To make the cloth, the inner bark of a mulberry tree was harvested, soaked, and beaten with a short club.Historically, bold hand-painted patterns were common on Hawaiian tapa, but by the nineteenth century decoration had moved toward smaller, more elaborate designs. New metal tools, introduced after Euro-American contact, made it possible for Hawaiian artists to create intricate bamboo dye stamps. The artist of this barkcloth arranged hundreds of individual impressions in a linear pattern around the border of the cloth.