Guna Mola Panel with Bat and Tapir Iconography

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The Parker & Neal Mola Collection - Part 1

By Dana Auctions LLC

May 16, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-05-16 11:00:00 2026-05-16 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Parker & Neal Mola Collection - Part 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/dana-auctions-llc/the-parker-neal-mola-collection---part-1-23111
The Parker-Neal Mola Collection Auction on May 16 presents a compelling selection of molas drawn from the renowned collection of Ann Parker and Avon Neal, co-authors of Molas: Folk Art of the Cuna Indians. This first offering has been thoughtfully curated to highlight some of the most interesting and visually striking examples from their extensive holdings. Dana Auctions LLC dana@danaauctions.com

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• Lot Description
  Panama (Guna Yala), circa 1960s 16 × 21.5 inches A striking mola panel worked in three layers of reverse appliqué, appliqué, and embroidery featuring a powerful cruciform composition with a central bat figure flanked by two tapirs. The panel demonstrates sophisticated understanding of sacred geometry and cosmological symbolism, transforming important forest animals into a mandala-like arrangement that suggests spiritual protection, ecological balance, and the interconnection between nocturnal and terrestrial realms of the rainforest environment. The composition is organized as a bold cross or plus-sign format dividing the panel into four quadrants. At the center of this cruciform arrangement sits a frontal bat figure rendered in black with distinctive pointed ears, large white appliqué eyes with black pupils, and a heart-shaped facial disk creating an owl-like or mask-like visage. The bat's body is filled with vertical embroidered dashes in yellow, pink, and turquoise creating striped patterns suggesting fur texture or decorative patterning. A heart motif appears at the bat's chest in turquoise and red, possibly representing the life force, spiritual essence, or the bat's association with blood and transformation in indigenous cosmologies. Chevron patterns below the heart create additional decorative articulation of the body. Bats hold complex symbolic significance in Guna and broader Mesoamerican traditions, associated with caves, the underworld, night vision, transformation, and liminal spaces between worlds. The frontal presentation and prominent eye placement give this bat apotropaic or guardian qualities, suggesting it may serve protective functions or represent shamanic vision and nocturnal knowledge. Flanking the central bat in the left and right quadrants are two tapir figures rendered in profile, their bodies depicted as large curved forms filled with multicolored embroidered dashes creating horizontal striped patterns. The tapirs' heads feature distinctive elongated snouts characteristic of these Central American mammals, with white appliqué eyes giving them alert, watchful expressions. Their bodies contain nested concentric shapes in red and orange creating depth and suggesting the substantial physical mass of these large forest herbivores. The tapirs' legs terminate in small curved feet, grounding them in the terrestrial realm in contrast to the airborne bat. Tapirs hold important cultural and ecological significance as the largest land mammals in Central America, serving as seed dispersers and forest ecosystem engineers. In indigenous cosmologies, tapirs often represent strength, forest knowledge, and connections to water sources, as they are semi-aquatic creatures. The pairing of bat (aerial/nocturnal) with tapir (terrestrial/crepuscular) creates a complementary duality representing different aspects of forest life and cosmological realms. The top and bottom quadrants of the cruciform contain geometric step or zigzag patterns rendered in turquoise and purple, possibly representing mountains, architectural forms, or abstract cosmic symbols. These geometric elements balance the figurative animal content and reinforce the mandala-like sacred geometry of the overall composition. The border features a distinctive pattern of multicolored rectangular appliqué elements in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple against a black ground, creating a frame that contains and activates the sacred space within. Orange appliqué dashes scattered throughout the red ground field create additional visual rhythm and may represent seeds, stars, or spiritual energy permeating the composition. The overall effect is one of carefully controlled balance and symmetry, with the central bat serving as axis mundi connecting upper and lower realms, and the flanking tapirs anchoring the horizontal earthly dimension. The three-layer construction creates depth through color reveals, particularly visible in the tapirs' bodies and the bat's facial features. Dense embroidery throughout demonstrates exceptional skill, with hundreds of individual dashes creating textural fields across all three animals. The bold color palette—dominated by red and black with accents of orange, yellow, turquoise, pink, and purple—creates strong visual contrast appropriate to the powerful symbolic content. This piece exemplifies the Guna tradition of encoding ecological knowledge, cosmological understanding, and spiritual relationships with forest animals through textile art. The sophisticated compositional structure suggests this panel may have served ceremonial or protective functions, documenting the maker's understanding of forest ecology and indigenous spiritual traditions related to animal guardians and cosmological balance. Worked on deep red cotton ground with layers in black, orange, yellow, turquoise, pink, purple, and white. Three layers with exceptionally dense hand-stitching and embroidery throughout. Complex figurative cutwork and geometric border patterns. Strong cruciform composition integrating animal iconography with sacred geometry. Single panel on red cotton ground with backing visible. This piece exemplifies the cosmological and ecological functions of Guna mola art, demonstrating the creative representation of forest animals as spiritual guardians and symbols of natural balance within traditional Indigenous understanding of rainforest ecosystems. Provenance: From the Parker & Neal Collection

  Condition

  Minor wear, slight fading, and areas of discoloration consistent with age. A small area with loose applique is also visible. In house Flat Rate US Shipping of $15 for 1 -10 molas, $5 each additional 10 molas. Insurance is additional and required.
• Shipping Info

  • In House Shipping is available and we will combine for economy. We will charge a $5 per additional lot within the same box. All items are shipped with Insurance. In person pick up is also available in our Princeton, NJ Auction Facility.

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