Kuna Mola 1950s - Kit Kapp Collection - Until the Cows Come Home

Description

A herd of cattle roam this mola, and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes. A very folk art reminiscent design, with interesting shapes surrounding the bovine subjects, putting each in their own little pen. The Kuna did not raise cattle and this artist was likely to never have even seen a cow in person. They do however import beef and dairy products on a limited basis to supplement their mostly seafood diet. 15w X 14 h, this is another older mola from the 1950s, the batch I am posting today is older in general than most batches will be.
The Kit Kapp Collection.
Kit Kapp was a cartographer who was hired to map the San Blas Islands in 1960. He quickly fell in love with the Kuna people and their art, and organized numerous lengthy expeditions to the islands over an 11 year period where he purchased thousands of molas and hundreds of Kuna nuchu carvings, as well as jewelry, basketry and other artifacts. In 1972 he published the seminal book
Mola Art of the San Blas Islands,
which is still one of the best reference books on the subject. Kit died in 2014. Between 1999 and 2016 we purchased the entire remainder of the Kapp Kuna collection.