Early 20th Century Wedding Vessel [SOLD]

This wedding vessel had its origin at San Juan Pueblo—now Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. This determination was made based on the slip being applied from the top to midway on the bulbous body.  The indented design on the body would cause one to think it was made at Santa Clara Pueblo because San Juan potters did not routinely use such design concepts, however, Santa Clara potters did not stop the slip part-way on the body.  We have chosen the slip application over the design impressions as the defining factor for San Juan origin.

I have often said that I knew of no reason why San Juan potters stopped the slip application short of covering the whole body.  Dr. Bruce Bernstein, formerly of the Smithsonian, recently explained to me that it is the same reasoning that the other pueblo potters stopped decorating their wares before reaching the base of the vessel. He pointed out that the lower (undecorated) portion of a vessel represents the division of the earth and the sky.  There is an old label on the bottom of this vessel that indicantes they thought it was Santa Clara Pueblo in origin.

This wedding vessel was delivered to us with newspaper fragments stuffed in one of the spouts. The date of the newspaper is 1911, so it is quite likely that the vessel was made between 1900 and 1910.

Condition: very good condition with a few very small chips from one of the spouts having been broken and glued back in.

Provenance: this Early 20th Century Wedding Vessel is from the collection of a family from Albuquerque

Recommended Reading:  Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940 by Jonathan Batkin