Kuna Indian Mola Applique Textile Art Colorful Parrot Quilt

Each mola I sell took at least a month to complete. Sorry i cut the mola a bit on the photo, it is full and perfect.

You are buying the Mola on the first photo, a jungle scene with parrots collected in Ustupu Island. Very Large: 16"x 12". One of the finest!
This is an outstanding collectable folk art collector piece of needlework, a unique mola applique panel created by a Cuna Indian. 3rd photo is an example of one that has been framed already in a handpainted frame created to match it.
We combine shipping to save you money and ship internationally!

We search for and buy only the best of everything we carry, straight from the people and artists who created such masterpieces of reverse applique or applique and embroideries, over a period of months, in the remote islands off the coast of Panama.

All our unusual handcrafted or rare items come with pages of research, photos, and authenticity information concerning them. In the case of the molas, we will send you 5 lengthy documents with photos referring to everything you need to know about them, from their history to their spiritual meanings or messages, the traditions still embraced thru them, and the difficult task of creating them.

If you have any questions or if you are interested in different motifs (we have many molas available that we can list for you and we are adding a few examples of others that are listed as well here to give you an idea of styles + we are showing you a few ways to use them in your decor as pillows or framed) please contact cheetahdmr@aol.com with any questions.

The Molas are world known for their minute hand sewn very close together stitches, so tiny on some that you can hardly see them. A Mola takes a long time to create because of its intricacy. Some molas also have additional embroideries on top of the intricate applique or reverse applique work. One cannot but admire the intense detail of the motifs and the richness of colors and embroideries of this unique disappearing art.

Molas all have many layers of colored fabrics sewn with very tiny and close stitches that are practically invisible, the subjects chosen have a profusion of details. These are all collector molas in perfect condition and of the highest quality of workmanship that can be found.

We have many molas for sale with a great variety of motifs from geometric to jungle scenes, animals, birds, fish, insects, flowers, plants, political, national & religious themes, people, still life, etc… traditional molas, vintage molas, newer molas. Colors are often more vibrant in real as the flash has a tendency of lightening up the tones.
You do not always see the complete mola on my photos as I try to concentrate on close ups so details of these remarkable works of art and their tiny hand stitches can be better seen and appreciated, but all my molas are complete with a margin of cloth fabric all around. Our molas are in perfect shape, we pick them ourselves and one by one for their extreme detail, color combinations, subjects and beauty in the San Blas islands. We also have a few full blouses available.

Additional photos placed here show a variety of photos from our trips such as my husband distributing goods to the Indian community, village scenes, a mola being started, a Kuna woman wearing one, as the molas are part of the Cuna Indian traditional blouse and there is a panel in front and back per blouse. Panels can take months to create and are the pride of the maker and owner-wearer.
If you want to see some of our framed molas, framed in unique signed hand painted frames matching each mola, or the fun pillows we make with them, each unique as well, we can send you pictures to give you ideas on how to display and use them in your home upon request in the case of the ones that are not already for sale here.

About the Kunas:
The Kuna Indians are the native people who live on small coral islands in the San Blas Archipelago along the Atlantic coast of Panama and Colombia. Molas are collected as folk art and can be viewed at some of the finest museums in the world like the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Kuna women are known for their colorful customs which consists of a patterned blue cotton wrapped skirt, red and yellow head scarf, arm and leg beads, gold nose rings and earrings ant the intricately sewn mola panel blouse. The mola panels of the blouse are hand-woven in a reverse applique technique using several layers of differently colored cotton cloth. The mola may also be decorated with very fine embroidery. Mola is the Kuna Indian word for blouse, but the term mola has come to mean the elaborate minute embroidered panels that make up the front and back of a Kuna woman's blouse.

You can see examples of how we frame them in one of a kind unique hand painted frames in this link below. Each frame is hand painted and created specifically for the mola it will enhance. http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=16503&forum=6&4.
To see pictures of our collection, go to this link below and scroll down till you get to the photos, there are a few pages of pictures & text for educational purposes that we were asked to place on this site and we add more weekly whenever we find time. You will find there photos of what we collect and sell regularly and the interesting stories behind these items we search for in remote areas of the world http://tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=14409&forum=5 and if you want to see colorful artwork to get ideas, and ways to transform houses with no flair into Caribbean hideaways, check this link again on the same site for fun! http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=16503&forum=6&4.