Bidspirit auction | Guna Nuchu Carved Wood Medicine

Guna Nuchu Carved Wood Medicine Figure with Broad-Brimmed Hat - Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1930s 16 inches Hand-carved wooden nuchu or uchu medicine doll standing on an oval integral base with long columnar legs supporting a blocky torso and a slender neck. The face is narrow and elongated, with a prominent vertical nose, incised slit mouth, and inset bead eyes in amber-orange. The figure is crowned by a dramatically broad, flat-brimmed hat carved as a single wide disk — a feature often associated with representations of foreign or outsider authority figures whose power was invoked in healing. The torso and head are darkened with a traditional black coating (likely plant resin, pitch, or soot-based pigment), with natural wood exposed at the hat, legs, and base where the surface has worn away. Nuchukana are sacred spirit figures carved from specific woods and called upon by Guna neles (shamans/medicine people) to house helper spirits who assist in healing ceremonies and protective rituals. Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection.