Bidspirit auction | Guna Mola Blouse Large Flowers

Guna Mola Blouse Large Flowers and Figure - Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s 16 x 18 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. The blouse has a solid gold cotton yoke and puffed sleeves, a pale green and black neck binding, and a multicolor striped hem band. On the front panel, two large radiating flowers rise on branching stems from a central plant form, with a leaf at the lower left and a human figure at the right raising what appears to be a machete overhead. The flower heads are densely worked with radiating bands and small embroidered and cut dots, set against a dark ground filled with multicolored slits. On the back panel, a mirror-image companion design places the machete-bearing figure at the left and the leaf at the lower right, beneath the same pair of radiating flowers. Pairing a human figure with a botanical scene gives the design a narrative quality, and the reversed layout shows the two panels were planned as a set.