Bidspirit auction | Guna Mola Blouse Mirrored Goats

Guna Mola Blouse Mirrored Goats - Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s 18 x 18.5 inches A traditional Guna woman's blouse with two mola panels (front and back), worked in 3 layers of hand reverse applique, applique, and hand embroidery with rickrack trim. The blouse has an orange and black tiger-stripe printed cotton yoke and puffed sleeves, a red neck binding, and a gold printed ruffled hem. On the front panel, two goats with curving horns sweeping back from their heads face outward from a tall central geometric form built of stepped, interlocking cutwork. The strict bilateral symmetry and densely slit ground are characteristic of Guna mola composition. The back panel, a closely matched companion design, repeats the paired goats flanking the central geometric form, with variations in the color of the fills. The coordinated front and back panels reflect the practice of making a blouse's two molas as a set.