The Parker & Neal Mola Collection - Part 1
Lot 229:
Description
Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s
19.5 × 20.5 inches
Complete Guna mola blouse featuring a boldly worked reverse appliqué, appliqué, and embroidery front and back panel set into a purple cotton yoke with gathered short sleeves trimmed in orange, a black horizontal band with orange sawtooth appliqué at the panel junction, and a yellow running-stitch accent line. Both mola panels present an all-over field of stylized quadruped spirit figures rendered in lavender-purple outline on a deep red ground, arranged in rows of three across three registers, their bodies filled with dense multicolored chevron and bar appliqué in yellow, orange, teal, blue, green, pink, and white — each figure individually colored. The heads of each creature are worked with dense polychrome running-stitch embroidery radiating from a small circular eye motif, a technically demanding detail repeated consistently across all figures. Side borders carry multicolored vertical dash fields. Front and back panels vary in the color sequencing of the figure fills while maintaining the same overall scheme. Consistent hand-stitching throughout. Worked in two layers of red, lavender, and multicolor cotton.
Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection.
Condition report:
Minor wear and fading consistent with age, as well as, loose applique in a few areas. Side seam and sleeve seam open on one side. In house Flat Rate US Shipping of $15 for 1 -10 molas, $5 each additional 10 molas. Insurance is additional and required.
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