Stitched Stories: Inside the Parker & Neal Mola Collection

Few collections capture the meeting point between art, daily life, and cultural history quite like the Parker & Neal Mola Collection. On August 22, Dana Auctions LLC will present The Parker & Neal Mola Collection – Part 2, the second and final offering from a collection assembled over decades and coming to market for the first time following Ann Parker’s death in 2022.

Photographer Ann Parker and writer and folklorist Avon Neal began traveling to Panama’s San Blas Islands, or Guna Yala, after their marriage in 1964. Over the following decade, they purchased molas directly from Guna women and documented an art form that was both deeply rooted in tradition and remarkably responsive to the changing world. Their research culminated in the 1977 book Molas: Folk Art of the Cuna Indians, which remains an important reference on the subject.

The August sale includes 257 lots comprising nearly 400 individual molas, alongside carved wooden medicine figures, dolls, pillows, and copies of Parker and Neal’s book. Every lot opens at $10, with estimates ranging from $50 to $500. Among the offerings are pieces that reveal just how inventive, observant, and visually sophisticated Guna mola makers could be.

Featured Auction Highlights:
Confronting Roosters with Cigarette Brand Cartouches (Lot 201)
One of the most immediately engaging works in the sale is Guna Mola Panel Confronting Roosters with Cigarette Brand Cartouches, dating to circa 1970s. Against a saturated red ground, two large crested birds face one another beneath a trio of advertising-inspired cartouches. The imagery includes references to Gallito, Marlboro, and Philip Morris cigarettes, while a small blue figure between the birds holds an upraised cigarette.

It is a wonderful example of how Guna artists absorbed commercial imagery circulating around them and transformed it through their own visual language. Rather than simply copying advertisements, the maker folds them into a dense, colorful composition of reverse appliqué, applied appliqué, and embroidery. A similar photograph of the mola appears on page 233 of Parker and Neal’s book, further connecting the object to the collectors who originally documented the tradition.

Estimate: $50–$500

A Flock of Thunderbirds (Lot 202)
Guna Mola Panel Flock of Thunderbirds, shifts from commercial imagery to a spectacular celebration of pattern and repetition. Dating to circa 1970s, the panel features multiple spread-wing thunderbirds arranged across a dark navy ground.

Two large birds dominate the upper portion, while additional thunderbirds and smaller secondary birds fill nearly every available space. Rainbow-like arcs, embroidered dashes, and a palette of red, orange, yellow, blue, green, pink, and purple give the composition an almost kinetic quality. The eye moves constantly from one bird to the next, yet the repeated forms keep the design remarkably cohesive. The result demonstrates the extraordinary ability of mola makers to build complexity through layering, rhythm, and color.

Estimate: $50–$500

RCA Gramophones Meet Guna Yala (Lot 203)
Perhaps no highlight better illustrates the cultural exchange represented throughout the collection than Guna Mola Panel Figures with RCA Gramophones. Created circa 1970s, the panel incorporates gramophones, radio or jukebox forms, human figures, floral elements, and references to recognizable corporate imagery.

A prominent gramophone horn recalls RCA’s famous “His Master’s Voice” trademark, while a pelican-hooded figure relates to Hitachi television branding. These familiar commercial symbols are almost completely reinvented within the mola’s saturated red field and intricate appliqué. Parker and Neal themselves documented related imagery in their book, with references to RCA on page 240 and Hitachi on page 239. The piece feels like a visual record of modern technology arriving in Guna Yala—and being interpreted on entirely local terms.

Estimate: $50–$500

Large Bird with Reclining Figure (Lot 204)
Animal imagery takes on a more mysterious narrative quality in Lot 204, Guna Mola Panel Large Bird with Reclining Figure. A monumental crested bird in teal, orange, blue, and yellow fills much of the composition, its body and sweeping tail commanding the deep red ground.

Beneath the bird lies a reclining yellow human figure accompanied by what appears to be a gourd or vessel, while smaller quadrupeds occupy the margins. Multicolored triangular cutouts surround the scene, adding another layer of movement and texture. Unlike the recognizable commercial references of some other works in the collection, the relationship between bird and figure here feels more open-ended, inviting the viewer to spend time with the image and its possible story.

Estimate: $50–$500

What makes The Parker & Neal Mola Collection – Part 2 especially compelling is not simply the number or variety of works, but their history. Parker and Neal did not assemble these molas at a distance. They traveled repeatedly to Guna Yala, purchased works directly from their makers, photographed and studied them, published what they learned, and lived with the pieces they kept.

Now, this final offering gives collectors an opportunity to encounter that history through the objects themselves. From thunderbirds and traditional motifs to cigarette packages and gramophones, the molas show artists interpreting a world that was simultaneously local and increasingly connected to global popular culture. Taken together, they are not static examples of “folk art,” but lively records of observation, adaptation, humor, imagination, and exceptional textile artistry.

The Parker & Neal Mola Collection – Part 2 will be presented by Dana Auctions LLC on Saturday, August 22, 2026, at 11:00 AM ET (8:00 AM PDT), live in Princeton, New Jersey and online through Bidsquare. 

Register to bid on Bidsquare.com.