Hermit Crab Maze In Crimson And Gold Museum Quality Mola

Four square mazes fill this panel, one to a corner, each coiling inward like a hermit crab shell that has been opened up and laid flat. The Guna woman who made this worked in only three colors, crimson, gold, and a dark charcoal, and every band is edged with the tiniest sawtooth teeth you will ever see cut by hand. That restraint is the whole trick. With nothing to distract you the eye just follows the line around and around, and the panel keeps giving. At 22" wide by 17" high (full measurements below), this vintage Panama mola is hand-stitched reverse applique from the 1960s and 1970s, graphic enough to hold its own next to modern art. It looks wonderful over a low sofa or in a hallway you walk past every day. 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: 22"
• Height: 17"
• SKU: PM3839T

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.