Santa Clara Pueblo Hand-Coiled Blackware Wedding Vase, Pueblo Tradition

A substantial hand-coiled Santa Clara Pueblo blackware wedding vase with the twin spouts, arched bridge handle, and full-bodied globular form characteristic of the Santa Clara wedding-vessel tradition. The surface carries the smoky, mottled patina typical of reduction-fired blackware, with soft fire clouds drifting across the belly and a satin sheen where the pot was stone-polished before firing. Coil ridges remain faintly perceptible under the burnish, confirming hand-built construction rather than mold or wheel work.

Wedding vases hold a central place in Pueblo marriage ceremony — the two spouts allow the bride and groom to drink in turn from a single vessel, the arched handle uniting the two streams into one. The deep, lustrous black surface and the fluid, flared spout rims are hallmarks of the Santa Clara tradition, which has produced reduction-fired blackware in this manner for generations.

CONDITION

Good with age-appropriate wear. One quarter-inch chip to the rim of a pour spout. Shelf wear to the underside and scattered light surface marks across the body consistent with handling and display over decades. Burnish remains largely intact.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Height: 10"
• Diameter: 7"
• Construction: Hand-coiled earthenware, reduction-fired blackware
• Pueblo Attribution: Santa Clara Pueblo
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included