In this series, Lagniappe presents a different work each week from the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, with commentary from a curator.
With the summer wedding season in full swing, many are in the process of purchasing a significant gift for newlyweds. The custom of giving a wedding gift is universal, seen in cultures all around the world as a way to celebrate the ritual of marriage. For the people of Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, marriages are celebrated in a unique way which centers a handmade vase.
Members of this tribe have long been admired for their production of handcrafted pottery with particular attention for their engraved blackware. Part of that tradition is this outstanding double spouted vase, a type known as a wedding vase, in the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art.
For hundreds of years, wedding vases just like this one have been an integral part of the wedding ceremonies of Pueblo people. Each spout represents the lives and experiences of both the bride and groom. Those shared experiences are then connected by a thin bridge at the top, symbolizing the joining of their two lives. The wedding vase is generally given to the couple by the groom’s parents as a gesture of kinship and goodwill. On the day of the wedding, the vessel is filled with water blessed by a shaman and then given to the bride. The bride takes a sip from one of the spouts and the groom takes a sip from the other, an act parallel to the exchanging of wedding rings in other traditions.
While wedding celebrations may look different based on geography and culture, the act of marriage is immensely powerful in many societies. Pieces such as this one exemplify the significance of joining two lives together in a romantic and artistic fashion.
You can find this Pueblo Wedding Vase on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art in an installation of 90 objects in the Café NOMA restaurant by Ralph Brennan.