The mat is heavily creased because it has been kept in a suitcase for the past seventy years or so. This also accounts for its generally good state of preservation. It came from the estate of a local lady who had been a missionary in Samoa in the late Twenties/ early Thirties. The palm fibres are densely and skilfully woven with about ten to the inch. Creating this mat must have taken a considerable length of time. It is bordered with red feathers, which are highly prized. There is a small area of damage (moth?) in the centre of the mat, which I have photographed and some blue pencil marks in the lower right hand corner, which may have come from its packing. Some feathers are also lacking. The reverse is the same but without any feathered border. Other than the above faults, condition is excellent.