"Mola," Or Woman's Shirt
date: label: Accession Date
content: 27 May 1947
label: Collection Date
content: 1938
name: label: Donor Name
content: Carl F. Sahlin
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "THIS TYPE OF GARMENT IS WORN BY TULE [KUNA] WOMEN AS A SHIRT OR APRON-LIKE OVERDRESS. THIS SPECIMEN CONSISTS OF A YOKE AND SHORT SLEEVES OF SILK, AND OF FRONT AND BACK PANELS OF PLAIN LIGHT BLUE COTTON CLOTH JOINED WITH STRAIGHT SEAMS AT THE SIDES AND APPLIQUED OVER THEIR ENTIRE SURFACE WITH CUT STRIPS OF COTTON CLOTH, PARTLY IN CONVENTIONAL, BUT PRIMARILY IN MODIFIED DESIGN PATTERNS OF WHICH CHRIST ON THE CROSS IS THE CENTRAL THEME. LENT TO THE TEXTILE MUSEUM 7/27/1989. LOAN RETURNED JAN 29 1990." ONE SIDE OF THIS MOLA BLOUSE IS ILLUS. IN PL. 6.129, P. 201 OF THE ART OF BEING KUNA, ED. MARILYN SALVADOR, UCLA FOWLER MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY, 1997, WHERE DESIGN IS IDENTIFIED AS CRISTO MOLA, C. 1938. PHOTO CAPTION: "CHRIST IS SHOWN IN BLACK ...TO INDICATE THAT HE IS DEAD. THE PASSION IMAGES AT THE LEFT INCLUDE THE ROOSTER, THE VEIL OF VERONICA WITH THE FACE OF CHRIST, AND A JAR OF OIL. ON THE RIGHT SIDE ARE THE LANCES, THE LADDER, AND THE OTHER IMPLEMENTS OF THE CRUCIFICTION." THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS MOLA BLOUSE NOT ILLUS. IN BOOK ALSO DEPICTS CHRIST ON THE CROSS BUT WITH MOURNERS AROUND HIM. - F. PICKERING 2-22-1999
label: Notes
content: According to Jake Homiak, depicts the "crucified Black Christ (El Christo Negro) of Portobelo. This coastal city is close to traditional Kuna territory and Kuna would have known of this Black Christ tradition for at last the last hundred years or more because of the festival celebrating this figure. Annually on October 21st, Afro-Panamanians of Central African descent who refer to themselves as Nazarenos celebrate the festival of El Christo Negro. I visited Portobello in 1999 and 2000 and visited the church in which the figure is kept. Information on the web is plentiful. At the top of the cross in this particular mola, the letters AJNRJ are embroidered. The common Spanish translation of the more usual INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum) is “Jesus Nazareno rey Juidos” but at times the word “Arameo” is added to the end. It appears to have been place at the beginning in this instance. The appliqué design on this particular mola is considerably more complex than just the Black Christ on the cross and I'm sure that a Kuna interpretation would be quite rich. This Black Christ tradition in Panama is just one of several in the Latin world including one in Cuzco, Guatemala, and New Mexico."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 May 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: San Blas, Panama, Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Kuna (Guna)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 176215
label: USNM Number
content: E385641-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Blouse
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 55 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 54 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 56 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 53 cm