Belt, tatua, of flax, from New Zealand; part of the Forster collection (Forster 108; 1886.1.1182)

A plaited belt of undyed New Zealand flax made using raranga pūputu or close plaiting. The pattern of the plait is a simple plain weave except for a series of 5 vertical bands, 8 strands wide, of a 2-2 twill weave that are placed throughout the belt. The spacing of the lines is variable, though it tends of average around 150 mm. The belt has been folded in half and tacked using 6 square knots to hold it in place. The ties range in placement between 140 and 180 mm apart. The plaited piece is unfinished in that the edges of the piece have been left long and are not woven back into the plaited material to form a finished edge. Instead, the long strands have been tucked to the inside of the belt and a 10-20 mm section of plaiting on the inside of the fold gives the upper edge of the object a smooth finished edge. The ties of the belt start as three, 3-stranded plaits. They then move into a single 3-stranded plait 480 mm long, before converging again into a 2-ply cord at the end of the tie

• Museum database entry.