Item PM22
This Item was Sold on 16 October
2012 for $16
Similar artifacts for sale are often found on the Panama
Molas web page.
Historical Pricing information for this item and similar artifacts
can be found at: Historical Artifact
Prices.
This is an older mola made in the 1960s or earlier out of
two layers of cloth. Most of the cloth from these early
molas came from the country of Colombia. This mola has an
abstract pre-Columbian geometric design that suggests rows
of + signs and boomerangs to form a diamond or rhomboid
pattern. The upper layer of red cloth is somewhat faded in
the center relative to the edges which were hidden when this
mola was sewn into a blouse. This mola would display well on
a wall if mounted in a frame. Length = 43 cm (17 inches) ;
Width = 29 cm (11+ inches) ; Weight = 44 gm
Many of the simple molas with abstract geometric designs
are among the most valuable. I certainly appreciate the
older ones more because My childhood was spent on the
Atlantic coast of Panama and I traveled many times to the
San Blas Islands. I had many Kuna Indian friends who lived
in Colon and worked in the restaurants or traded goods to
the Hindu shops on Front Street in Colon. As a young adult,
I worked on ships and one of my shipmates was a 75 year old
Kuna medicine man whose name was John Bodder. He taught me a
lot about how the Kuna used indigenous plants, their gods
and customs. I am sorry that I did not write it all down to
share with others. The molas that I sell are from two sources: my family
collection (purchased between 1953 and 1974) and from Dean
Flora, a Baptist missionary who spent a lot of time in the
San Blas Islands in the 1960s and early 1970s. Dean was a
wonderful man who tried to introduce Christianity without
destroying the Kuna culture. The Kuna Indians loved him and
made him an honorary member of their tribe. This honor is
rarely bestowed to outsiders. Therefore, all of the molas
that I sell are at least 35 years old. but most are 40 to 60
years old and some are even older.
The mola is a rectangular piece of cloth that was made by
Kuna [ Cuna ] Indians located in the San Blas
Islands on the Atlantic coast of Panama between the Panama
Canal and the country of Colombia. The Kuna are indigenous
Carib Indians who were never subjugated by the Spanish. They
have always been somewhat autonomous from the governments
that have claimed the San Blas Islands as part of their
territory. However, the Kuna have always tolerated the
presence of other cultures, including the missionaries who
had a significant impact on Kuna culture. Until the recent
past [ 100+ years], the Kuna did not wear much
clothing. They painted their naked bodies with abstract
geometric designs and gods using dyes from native plants.
The missionaries convinced them to wear clothing in the
presence of Christians, so the Kuna learned how to make
their own clothing from cloth that the missionaries
provided. Because the clothing covered the abstract designs
on their bodies, the Kuna learned the art of reverse
applique, so that multiple layers of cloth were cut out and
then sewn together to form beautiful abstract designs with
the stitching on the inside.