Black Carved Wedding Vessel with Twisted Arch Handle [SOLD]

Many potters today make wedding vessels but there seems no longer a tradition at any of the pueblos to use them ceremonially.  They apparently are made to be sold to collectors and as wedding gifts to others as a keepsake.

There was a time, according to Santa Clara potter Teresita Naranjo, when the wedding vessel was used at Santa Clara Pueblo.

At the reception when the future groom meets his future bride’s relatives "The bride and groom now kneel in the middle of the room with the boy's relatives and the girl's relatives praying all around them.  After the prayers, the godmother places the wedding vase in front of the bride and groom.

"The bride then drinks out of one side of the wedding vase and the groom drinks from the other.  Then the vase is passed to all in the room—the men drinking from one side and the women from the other.

"After the ritual of drinking the 'holy water' and the prayers, the girl's family feeds all the boy's relatives and a date is set for the church wedding.  The wedding vase is now put aside until after the church wedding.

"After the church wedding, the wedding vase is again filled with any drink the family may choose and all the family drinks in the traditional manner—women on one side, men on the other.

"The wedding vase has served its ceremonial function and is now given to the young couple as a good luck piece."  Teresita Naranjo quoted in “Santa Clara Pottery Today.”

Helen Shupla formed a beautiful black carved wedding vessel.  She twisted the arch between spouts as a symbol of the binding of the couple in matrimony. The body of the vessel displays a beautiful arrangement of carved designs.  The upper part of the vessel is stone polished and void of design.  The vase is signed with the name of the potter.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from a family in Oklahoma

Reference: LeFree, Betty, Santa Clara Pottery Today