Guna Mola Panel with Paired Rats in Traps

Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1970s 13.75 × 17.5 inches A vibrant mola panel worked in three layers of reverse appliqué, appliqué, and embroidery featuring two rats caught in traps, arranged in mirrored horizontal orientation against a brilliant red ground. This piece exemplifies the Guna tradition of depicting scenes from daily life, documenting the practical realities of pest control in island communities where food storage required protection from rodents. The composition presents two rats of equal scale positioned in opposing horizontal registers—one facing left in the upper portion, one facing right in the lower. This symmetrical arrangement creates visual balance while allowing the maker to demonstrate technical mastery through repetition with variation. Each rat is rendered in black with bold yellow outlining, creating strong contrast against the red ground. The upper rat displays characteristic anatomical features: an elongated head with open mouth rendered in red appliqué, prominent eye executed as concentric circles in white, pink, and red with multicolored radiating embroidery, front and hind legs with individually articulated claws in red and green, and a long tapering tail. The body is decorated with vertical striping in lime green and purple appliqué, creating chromatic variation. The trap mechanism is visible as a geometric element constraining the creature. The lower rat mirrors this construction with subtle variations in color palette—its body features blue, yellow, and pink vertical stripes, demonstrating the maker's interest in exploring chromatic possibilities while maintaining compositional unity. The creature's body similarly shows detailed limb articulation and a prominent circular eye motif. Throughout the red ground, the maker has activated negative space with clusters of vertical dashed embroidery in contrasting colors—green, black, orange, yellow, turquoise, blue, pink, and white. These linear elements appear in organized groups of three to five dashes, creating rhythmic patterning. The upper border features a distinctive decorative band with white rickrack trim against gray backing fabric. Orange horizontal bars at the top edge and a geometric motif in yellow outlined in blue appear at the lower corner. This piece demonstrates how Guna women incorporated observations from everyday domestic life into their textile art, transforming mundane household concerns into bold graphic compositions. Worked on brilliant red cotton ground with layers in black and red. Fine hand-stitching throughout with consistent edge work along complex curves. Three-layer reverse appliqué construction with sophisticated color sequencing. Strong compositional control with mirrored horizontal arrangement. White rickrack trim at upper edge on gray backing fabric. Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection Information for this mola was updated beased on information provide by Prudence Grissom, author of the soon to be published book "MOLAS: Past, Present & Future-the Enduring Art of the Guna/Kuna." Complexity Assessment Note: This piece scores in Tier B-C range (22-25 points): Layers: 3 (score: 3) Stitch Quality: Fine, consistent stitching (score: 4) Design Density: Well-filled with balanced negative space (score: 3-4) Cutwork: Complex curves throughout reptilian forms (score: 4) Color Layering: Thoughtful dorsal stripe sequencing (score: 4) Iconography: Strong zoomorphic representation with naturalistic detail (score: 4) Composition: Effective mirrored symmetry (score: 4)