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Diver & Shark Mola Pair
Here's another pair of very intricate molas that show a person diving in the waters of the Caribbean. This one has encountered a dangerous looking shark. On the top mola we see the colorful shark with it's sharp teeth that looks like it's going to attack the diver. On the bottom mola we see that the diver won the battle and seems to have conquered the shark. Little fish, were used as filler elements.
Both molas are exquisitely made in the reverse applique technique. The Kuna artist used a variety of very tiny and even stitches and narrow and even lines (spaces). Embroidery, "tas-tas"or vertical cut outs, and the difficult "suidi-suidi" or sawtooth stitch are present. She used lots of tiny triangles in a rainbow of colors for the background.
These molas are probably about 5 years old and in Top condition. Nice and bright, no fadings, no rips, stains, tears etc. They were once worn with pride on the blouse of the mola maker.
These would make a wonderful addition to your mola collection or a very unique gift for your favorite diver!
Dimensions: 17" x 13"
RCA VICTROLA TRADEMARK MOLA
This is mola a wonder example of a design that is inspired on a trademark. This one portrays the RCA Victor trademark dog Nipper. He is here with two little people playing a giant victrola. This design is one of the oldest trademark molas. It first appeared in the 1950's. The original RCA is now CA.
Reverse applique hand stitched mola. It has many different colors. For thebackground the mola maker added colored triangles.
Dimensions: 16-1/2" x 13-1/2"
Loveable Teddie Bears in a Forest
This is an older mola, probably about 10 - 15 years old. It was made with lots of love and has been worn on the blouse of the Kuna Indian woman that made it. The mola shows two lovely little bears that appear to be in a very colorful forest. It was made using the reverse applique technique. The bear's bodies have tiny cut out squares and the background is filled with tiny colored triangles. The lines are very thin and even. It's a very unique mola.
Dimensions: 17" x 15"
Wise Owls Mola
This is a wonderful mola that shows a pair of "Wise Old Owls" sitting in a tree with their reading glasses and bow-ties. It looks as if they are giving the newly hatched baby owls their first lessons.
The mola has exquisite stitching throughout: very small and very even. Little colored triangles have been used as a background filler adding great liveliness to the design. The suida-suida (sawtooth) stitch forms the outline of the central figures. The mola maker has added nice embroidery details.
Collectors Quality!
(The scan is not very good. The colors are much brighter than the digital image. The blurs are because of the scan).
Dimensions: 17-3/4"x 13-1/4"
Pig Feeding Piglets Mola
This is an older mola , about 12 -1 5 years old that has a very interesting and colorful design. It was probably worn on the blouse of a child.
The mola portrays a Mother Pig feeding her five little piglets. A common scene in the region of Kuna Yala (San Blas Islands). Even though it is not as intricate as the ones made more recently, it has a charm all it's own and reminds me of the abstract/modern art of the sixties.
It is in very good condition, the colors are still bright, no rips or stains.
Dimensions: 16" x 10-5/8"
Amusing Chicken Family Mola
This is a wonderful pair of molas! Showing us a Chiken Family. On the top mola we have mother hen pushing a wheelbarrow with her three baby chikens inside. They are passing in front of her house on the way to dinner, where they will meet daddy, Mr. Rooster.
On the second mola we have Mr. Rooster, meeing his wife while he is preparing bar-b-que at the grille! Obviously not chicken dinner, to me, it looks more like they will be having steak tonight. Mr Rooster. Mother Hen is wearing a flower in her hat and is holding what seems to be a tray under her wing. The little baby chicks are ready for their meal, they each have on their bib so that they don't make a mess of their food.
Isn't this wonderful?
The mola was worn often by the it's maker. It is soft from the wear and shows slight fading. The background has multi-colored "v"'s. The central characters are outlined in the delicate sawtooth stitch. It has nice embroidery details as well. Reverse Applique.
Dimensions: 17" x 14-1/4"
Badu Mor ~ Duck Mola
This is a lovely mola of a Mother Duck with her baby. They seem to be swimming in the ocean, which the Kuna mola-maker has represented as a geometric maze. It is very well made. Very tiny stitches and great colors.
The mola is about 10 years old and has been worn on a blouse.
Dimensions: 18"x 12-1/2"
Hungry "Pecari" Mola
Here we have a Pecari, or maybe its some other wild animal that is commonly eaten by the Kunas, ready to have her dinner. She is sitting in a beautiful chair and has the table set, with knife, fork, spoon and scissors???.. In his hand there is a "pacifier" which more than likely he will soom put in the baby pecari's mouth so that he can have some peace and quiet while he eats.
This is an incredible mola. The mola maker's creativity never ceases to amaze me!
The mola is at least 15 years old. Slightly faded (more so that appears in the digital image), but is in excellent condition. No stains or tears. Worn by a young girl.
The pecari's body is embroidered with great stiches and the chair is very charming as she has used thin strips of fabric in a multitude of colors. For a background filler she has used the vertical cuts or "das - das" stiches.
A mola very similar to this one can be found in the Parker and Neal book. It is listed there as Cat and Mice sewing. This one is a variation of it. I'm not sure which was designed first.
Collector's Quality!
Dimensions: 15-3/4" x 12-1/2"
Two Delightful Ducks Mola
This charming pair of ducks are sure to delight any room. They are very neatly stitched and very colorful. The background is a nice reverse applique "z" design. It has great details. Once worn on a young child's blouse. Excellent condition.
Dimensions: 15" x 13"
Price: $31.00
Super Whimsical Arms & Legs Molas
This is an extraordinary pair of molas. The top one shows "arms & hands" and the bottom one "legs & feet". Where did the Kuna Indian come up with something like this? I haven't got a clue but the top mola reminds me of a trademark... (Arms & Hammer?).. The bottom one, of course, was the obvious mate to the top one.
They are both very well made and are approximately 12 years old. They are in excellent condition, very slightly & nicely faded, also soft from the wear and the washings but no stains or rips. Three principal layers of fabric were used to make these humerous molas: maroon, black and a grass green base or bottom layer. The mola maker included smaller swatches of colored fabric between the layers to make her design. The arms and the legs have little cut out squares (or circles) and each of the four "sets" of extremities are enclosed in a reverse applique circle and surrounded by the sawtooth or dientes (suidi-suidi) stitch.
They will definitely make a great conversation piece!
Dimensions: 15-3/4" x 12-1/2"
Price: $35.00 each $65.00 for the pair
Ship Transiting the Panama Canal Mola
This great little mola is the mate to one that is in the sold section. . It has same outstanding workmanship and was once worn on the same blouse by a young Kuna girl. The mola maker used a variety of stitches on her creation, including nice geometric designs, embroidery for details.
It shows both the U.S. and the Panamanian flags on a ship that may well be one of the cruise ships often seen on the islands or maybe one of the smaller tugs that accompany the larger ships on their canal transit. In any event, it's a very nice little mola and very well made.
Dimensions: 15-1/4" x 12"
Hansel & Gretel Mola
This is a very nice little mola that was once worn on the blouse of a young child. It shows two children and a little house, I'm presuming that it was taken from the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It is very nicely made and had a good variety of stitches. The mola maker used embroidery for details, the vertical "tas-tas" for the little house and nice geometric figures as a background.
Dimensions: 15-1/4" x 12"
Grinning Cat Mola
Here's one that's sure to put a smile on your face! It's cat that seems to be waving goodbye. He's enclosed within a heart-shaped circle.
This mola has exceptional workmanship. The stitches are very tiny and even. The lines are smooth and narrow. The background is very colorful, it has lots of tiny triangles in a spectrum of colors. It's in great condition, no rips, stains or marks. Approximately 5 years old.
This one would look great on the back of a denim jacket! or a fine addition to your mola collection.
Dimensions: 16-1/2" x 14"
Shrimp's First Birthday Mola
This is a really marvellous mola,and a wonderful example of the Kuna women's sense of humor and extremely creative imagination! It shows two sea animals, that I think are shrimp, with party hats, forks, bibs and ready to dig into the Birthday cake, with vanilla frosting & pink trim. The one candle tells us that it's their first birthday (and probably their last). The room is decorated with balloons and fish and a little lobster look on.
The mola is very nicely stitched. Top workmanship. VERY tiny stitches and lots!!! of colors. The table and stools are adoned with little applqued circles. She has also used embroidry stitches to enhance her design. The tiny colored triangles that the mola maker used as a background filler add a festive mood to the mola.
The mola is approximately 7 - 10 years old and was part of ta blouse. The mola is in excellent condition, a small tear in the fabric in the corners that does not affect the design at all and is from when the mola was taken off of the blouse.
Dimensions: 16-1/2" x 13"
Colorful Animals in a Jar Mola
This mola is extremely well made. It depicts two animals resting in a jar. The mola is hand sewn using the reverse applique technique. It has beautiful embroidery details on the animal's bodies. As a background filler the mola maker has used the vertical cuts or "das-das" and an abstract design near the top.
This is a symetrical and well balanced design. For the Kunas symmetry is very significant for they believe that everything is made in pairs.
Dimensions: 17-1/4" x 13-1/2"
This is a Superior mola! It has a very creative and intricate design. This flying monkey has colorful huge wings. The mola boasts lovely circular applications, embroidery stitches, sawtooth stitch and multi-colored tiny triangles.
VERY WELL MADE! Collector's quality.
Dimensions: 16-1/4" x 13-3/4"
Swinging Monkey
This mola is the pair to the one above. It shows a very detailed monkey swinging from the vines in the jungle. The complete mola didn't fit in my scanner but only the edges were cut off.
The mola is in excellent condition. It was worn on the mola-maker's blouse. It has wonderful embroidery stitches that can't really be appreciated in the scans.
Dimensions: 16" x 14"
Fancy Fish Mola
This a very intricate and colorful mola that shows a lovely fish swimming in the depths of the Caribbean waters. There is other marine life of which the starfish is easily recognized, the others are for your interpretation. If you look closely you will see that the fish is carrying what seems to be a periscope so that he can see what's happening on land.
As always, hand sewn using the reverse applique technique. The mola has extraordinary details, particularly on the fish's body. The mola maker has decorated the fish with nice embroidery stitches, colorful circular applications, minute square cut-outs. The background is filled with hundreds of tiny triangles in lots of colors.
The mola measures 14-3/4"x 12" . Judging from it's size it probably belonged to a young girl.
Whimsical Fish wearing a Hat!
This is a charming mola of a very modern fish that's wearing his top hat while swimming in the depths of the Caribbean waters. One more display of the Kuna women's creativity and imagination. The mola is approximately 7 years old and was worn by it's maker.
The mola, as all of these, was sewn using the reverse applique technique and has very attractive details, including the pretty flowers and the underwater plants that are nicely embroidered as is the body and fins of the fish. For the background the mola maker has included many swatches of different color fabric used for vertical cut outs or "das-das".
Dimensions: 16-1/2" x 13"