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Wedding Vase with Braided Handles

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  • Alice Cling, Wedding Vase with Braided Handles, May, 1987, fired clay with red clay slip and piñon pitch, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Gibson Fahnestock, 1997.124.146

Traditional Native American wedding vases have two spouts joined by a handle to symbolize two lives coming together as one. In this piece, created by Navajo potter Alice Cling, there is only one opening, and the braided handles represent the two sides of a relationship. During the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds drink blessed water from the vase.

Title
Wedding Vase with Braided Handles
Artist
Alice Cling
Date
May, 1987
Location
  1. Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Luce Foundation Center
  3. 3rd Floor
  4. 28B
Dimensions
8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 in. (21.6 x 16.5 x 16.5 cm)
Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Gibson Fahnestock

Mediums
plant material
clay
Mediums Description
fired clay with red clay slip and piñon pitch
Classifications
Decorative Arts
Keywords
  • Object – other – vase
Object Number
1997.124.146
Palette
Linked Open Data URI

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