Bidspirit auction | Guna Mola Panel Syncretic Crucifixion
Guna Mola Panel Syncretic Crucifixion with Flanking Spirit Figures - Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s 12.5 × 14.5 inches Striking and iconographically significant reverse appliqué, appliqué, and hand embroidery mola panel presenting a syncretic crucifixion scene rendered entirely through the Guna visual idiom. A central figure with outstretched arms is mounted on a large cross form that dominates the upper register, wearing a embroidered cap and displaying a belt of oval link forms at the waist; below, a green-outlined vessel with claw-like fingers descends from the cross shaft. To the lower left, a frontal spirit figure with splayed arms is clothed in a yellow embroidered garment with cross markings on the torso. To the lower right, a second spirit figure with large spread wings stands in a dynamic posture. The entire ground is saturated with a dense field of multicolor geometric filler — appliquéd triangles, diamonds, X-forms, and bars in orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, and purple — leaving no negative space across the composition. Executed in two layers of black and orange cotton, with extensive embroidered detailing throughout. Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection.