Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles

Dulemola (Blouse Panel) with Caribbean Spiny Lobster

L2016_016_005_B_SCR.jpg

Title

Dulemola (Blouse Panel) with Caribbean Spiny Lobster

Description

The Guna free dive down as far as eighty feet to catch the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), or rock lobster, shown in the blouse panel. Spiny lobsters resemble "true" lobsters and are edible, except they have very long antennae and only females have small claws on their back legs. Bright orange in color, with many spiky dots, this animal is well captured by the artist's use of the orange top cloth and the many elaborately cut-through color segments on its body and tail. The serrated edges on the triangles in the main body are particularly apt versions of the animal's bumpy surface. This type of edge is the most challenging to make, and indicates the hand of a skilled textile artist.

Geographic Area

Central America, Guna Yala (San Blas Islands/North Coast of Panamá)

Culture

Guna

Date

20th century

Materials

Cotton

Credit Line

Lent by Sherry Thorup

Accession Number

L2016.16.5

Photo Credit

Photo by Michael McKelvey, 2017

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