Vintage Handmade Kuna Indian Mola San Blas Panama Art Musical Dance Ceremony

Description

Vintage Hand Sewn Multi-colored and Layered, Kuna Indian Mola San Blas Panama Art Work
Molas are handmade in hundreds of working hours from various layers of fabric, different techniques of applique and embroidery are used. The main concept in Molas is to leave as little unworked space as possible as the Kunas believe that evil spirits can settle in the free spaces.
Kuna Indian Mola Applique Textile
Excellent Condition
Hand sewn
Multi-colored and vibrant
Comes with the original card stating, "This is a MOLA, one of the last of the primitive art forms: a craft passed down from generation to generation. MOLA is a Cuna word meaning dress or suit. Your MOLA was stitched by the skillful hands of a Cuna Indian living on the San Blas Islands off the coast of the Republic of Panama.
Panel size: 15-inches tall x 18 3/4-inches wide
Ciera estimated the 1960s
Please see photographs
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Meanings of the Mola Symbols
:
Appliqued Triangles - These small appliqued triangles symbolize the shape of the bamboo huts, being the home of the Kuna. They represent being protected by the family.
Vertical Slots - The vertical slots imitate the sunbeams shining through the bamboo walls of traditional Kuna homes. They also mean being protected by the family.
Labyrinths - Labyrinths are found on many Molas. Evil spirits get lost in labyrinths and the Kuna wearing these molas is being protected.
Zig Zag Lines - Zig Zag lines are "dientes" or teeth biting away evil spirits.
Molas are wonderful traditional folk art hand stitched fabric panels that the Kuna women, from Indian tribes living in the remote San Blas islands off the coast of Panama, wear on the front and back of their blouses. They are masterpieces of time-consuming intricate textile art, each created by an artistically accomplished seamstress with imagination, technique, originality and talent and each is unique: they are delicately and minutely hand sewn recreating either an abstract geometric motif reminiscent of body tattoos from their past, the brain coral that surrounds the islands, or inspired by kuna history, religion, shamanism or daily life and by what surrounds the makers such as nature, birds, animals, etc... and they are highly collectible in the world of textiles and visual arts.
This is a non-Native American item.