Siqui Nusu Mola Birds Parrots Snakes Art Vintage Huber Textile Reverse Applique
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:5294177 | Modified Item: No |
| Provenance: Robert and Marianne Huber Collection | Country/Region of Manufacture: Panama |
Thedesign of this hand-stitched mola features a symmetrical pair of Siqui (birds)standing on Nusu (snakes or sea worms). Bright spiral patterns on the Siquiecho the Nusu shape.Somedetails are embroidered.SizeThismola measures approximately 18" by 16".ConditionThe base layer of thismola has worn through in several places, resulting in holes.Thesurface layers show moderate wear.Pleaseexamine the pictures for details.Itis a vintage mola, so the colors have mellowed. Do not expect the just...-madecolors of a tourist mola.Combined ShippingIfyou are buying more than one mola, please wait for us to send an invoice thatreflects the actual shipping costs.Note on ColorsDueto the variation in monitors (or even the variations seen on the same monitorat different angles) colors on your monitor may not be exactly the colors inthe mola. Ido my best to honestly present the molas. I take the pictures carefully withgood light. Most of the time, I do not adjust colors. What you see is what mycamera recorded, with a white tag (cropped later) for automatic white balance.Thephotos have a watermark in the center: Baktun13Art 2018Thisis only a watermark on the photo, it does not appear on the mola.Memory of Island Life The first trip Iremember to the San Blas Islands was when my parents, Robert and Marianne, weremaking their film (see below). Running with the island kids, I and my brotherssaw many of the sewing groups. Usually in groups of 3 or 4, the women would gatherin the shade of their huts, on benches, to sew. Each woman?s thread spoolswould be strung on a thin strip of torn-off fabric, along with a fine pair ofscissors. The moms andgrandmothers would keep a partial eye on the children of their island whileworking. Imagine any close group ofwomen, laughing and gossiping while working on a project they'd done so manytimes it only required half their attention. In this case, all the groups were working on molas using the reverseapplique technique which is the basis of their art. As all parents pass on knowledge and skillsfor everyday life, they would be teaching the young girls of their family howto create the molas. All would bewearing molas, and the signature headscarves, their arms and legs decoratedwith glass bead bracelets, a paint stripe down their nose ending at the goldring. Frequently, they would adjust the bracelets as they'd fall down theirarms while they worked, or just as a reason to take a tiny break from theirsewing. Their work materials would be onthe bench beside them, colorful fabrics, thread, scissors. This was island life. Mom was quicklywelcomed into a group, or there could have been several she worked with. The Cuna women generously instructed her inthe art of making a mola...although it isn't something she became adept at. Because she had a greater knowledge of theworld than they had, they called her Mu - Grandmother, despite being the sameage or younger. They didn't have a common spoken language, except for a fewwords and phrases Mom learned. She maynot have been able to gossip with them, but they shared much laughter. Inaddition to mola making, the ladies tried to teach Mom how to paint the stripedown her own nose. A thorn from one ofthe island plants was used to apply the paint. The stripe needed to be thin andstraight. Mom had brought along a smallmirror but never could get it quite right. Envision the giggling and pantomiming involved in this endeavor. In the end, one of them would take thorn inhand and draw it for her.The Huber CollectionRobertand Marianne Huber collected molas and artifacts on the San Blas Islands andmade a documentary about the Guna in the early 1970's. When collecting molas, women of the Gunasometimes had molas on display for sale as you often see in pictures. The Huber method was to turn those down andask to see the ones the women did not display; the ones they had made forthemselves but no longer wore. The womenwould pull the blouses or panels from the rafters of their homes. It was these authentic, often soot coveredmolas that were gently cleaned and became part of the Huber collection, many ofthem part of a traveling museum exhibition. The IslandsWhenEuropeans arrived in Panama, the Kuna tradition was to paint designs onthemselves. The Europeans brought fabric and missionaries who objected to bodypaint. The Kuna adapted, moving their designs to the mola.Nowthe water is rising. The islands were only a few feet above the water to beginwith, and may soon disappear beneath the waves. Already the Kuna are makingplans to move back to the mainland. Who knows what changes they will make tothe mola tradition, or whether it will even continue?AgeTheHubers collected this mola in the early 1970's. It had been worn by (probably)the artist until she felt it was too old to wear, and then stuffed in the roofpalms of her house for who knows how long. I estimate that it probably dates tothe mid-1960's or earlier. Copyright NoteWereserve the right to publish or otherwise use images we have taken of thismola. Other than that, we do not restrict the buyer's rights. Inother words, we can still use and publish any pictures we took while we ownedthe mola.Combined ShippingIfyou are buying more than one mola, please wait for us to send an invoice thatreflects the actual shipping costs.
