Bidspirit auction | Guna Mola Blouse Rotating Hooked

Guna Mola Blouse Rotating Hooked Cross - Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s 23 × 20.5 inches Complete Guna mola blouse featuring a boldly worked reverse appliqué, appliqué, and embroidery front panel set into a white sheer organza yoke with gathered short sleeves trimmed in multicolor rick-rack, a yellow zigzag rick-rack band and black horizontal stripe at the panel junction, and a pleated striped cotton hem border in yellow, orange, and cream. The mola panel presents a dense, all-over grid of rotating hooked cross motifs — an ancient geometric form recurring widely in Guna textile tradition — executed in deep orange on black with a vivid red reveal line tracing every cut edge, creating a fiery, high-contrast ground that fills the panel without rest or negative space. The forms interlock continuously across the surface, reading simultaneously as individual hooked units and as a seamless labyrinthine field. The back panel repeats the composition with slight variation in the rotational orientation of the motifs. Consistent hand-stitching throughout. Worked in two layers of orange, black, and red cotton. Mola panel measures. Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection.