Two Alligators Above Three Star Medallions Museum Quality Mola

Two alligators lean in from the top corners with their jaws open and their teeth showing red, and between them sit three medallions that look like they were spun out of a kaleidoscope. Everything else is maze, red and orange and yellow channels running across a deep black ground, doubling back on themselves the way the best Guna designs always do. At 20" wide by 15" high (full measurements below), this vintage Panama mola brings a lot of drama to a wall for its size. It comes from the 1960s and 1970s, and the woman who made it worked entirely by hand, layering cloth, cutting down through it, and turning each edge under in classic hand-stitched reverse applique. Look at the fine embroidery filling those alligator heads. That alone took days. There is only one, and this is it.

These are the oldest molas we have. Every panel in this collection dates to the 1960s and 1970s and was collected in Panama by our founder, Len Brockman, on sourcing trips he made decades before TraderBrock opened in 1991. They sat in his personal collection for years. We are only now bringing them out.

A mola is made by layering fabric and cutting down through it, stitching each edge by hand as you go. The Guna women of Guna Yala have been doing this for generations, and the work in these older panels is on a different level from what you find today. More layers, tighter stitching, and designs that were meant to be worn rather than sold. Look closely and you can see how small the stitches are. That is the part no machine has ever managed to copy.

• Width: 20"
• Height: 15"
• SKU: PM3826T

Each mola is stitched entirely by hand, so gentle care keeps it looking its best.

Hand wash in cold water with a mild soap, on its own. Do not wring, bleach, or tumble dry. Lay flat to dry, out of direct sun. If needed, press on the back with a warm iron, with a cloth between the iron and the mola.