Bidspirit auction | Guna Nuchu Carved Wood Medicine

Guna Nuchu Carved Wood Medicine Figure with Embroidered Purple Striped Tunic - Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1940s 10.75 inches Hand-carved wooden nuchu or uchu medicine doll with a slender columnar body and an elongated ovoid head featuring heavy-lidded almond eyes carved with traces of blue-grey pigment, a prominent ridged nose, and a small mouth. The figure wears a sleeveless handwoven tunic of purple and ecru vertical stripes, densely embellished throughout with polychrome supplementary-weft embroidery in wine, lavender, teal, turquoise, cobalt, coral, and yellow — forming stepped, zigzag, and crosshatch motifs that fully cover the front and back. 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.