The Parker & Neal Mola Collection - Part 1
Lot 230:
Description
Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s
16 × 13.5 inches
Complete Guna mola blouse featuring a boldly worked reverse appliqué, appliqué, and embroidery front and back panel set into a red cotton yoke with gathered short sleeves trimmed in turquoise rick-rack, and an orange band with blue rick-rack accent stitch at the panel junction. The mola panels present a large-scale spirit figure and fish rendered in black on a vivid red ground, the forms densely filled with closely spaced parallel dash and bar cutwork that creates a vibrating textural surface across the entire panel. On the front panel, a small spirit face is embroidered in yellow near the upper register — eyes, nose, and mouth rendered in fine running stitch — serving as a focal point within the otherwise austere two-color composition. The figures interlock across both registers of the panel with a fluid, painterly energy, their outlines bold and confident. The back panel repeats the composition with variation in the figure arrangement. The extreme economy of color — red revealed through black — gives this piece a graphic intensity. Consistent hand-stitching throughout. Worked in two layers of red and black cotton.
Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection.
Condition report:
Minor wear and fading consistent with age. 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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