Antique Native American Wedding Vase? or amateur repro?

Hi!...This is a recent purchase....the tag said Native American Wedding Vase...possibly Navajo?.....its approx 8.5 in ht...x 8 in wth at the widest point from the openings....the clay is rough and has a light sparkle as though it might have mica in the clay, coupled with darkened areas that I do realized that could have been put there intentionally....especially since the bottom isn't dark...so I'm not sure how it was fired knowing nothing about Native American pottery firing process etc.....the clay also seems to have something fiberous added in...I can see it where the rope like handle meets the opening....its also very dirty inside...which may imply age....or maybe someone put dirt in it for that purpose...the are no signatures or marks...I'm hoping that someone knows if this is actually authentic early Native American Pottery.....and not someones experiment........

 

I can only briefly opine about what I see when I look at your pictures based on research I've done in the past but can't remember all the details.

Looks like micaceous clay was used for the pot. So that could be a clue as to what region it came from.

The black areas are called fire clouds.

 

I think we should ping @Taupou !

 

Very interesting shape. Are those leaves,something typical to Native American pottery? What do they represent? Or just decoration?

 

It was an impulsive buy yesterday while at the Antique store....I had buyers remorse after a few hours, thinking that it may be a reproduction made to look aged....but I googled it today and saw a few pics of pottery from Northern New Mexico called Mecaceous pottery....so it may be Pueblo....even though it wasn't that much in price...and I haggled a little.... I really wanted it to be authentic aged Native American.....and its looking like it is.....so I'm feeling much better about my purchase......(I also zipped locked it...tied in another plastic bag and placed it in the freezer over night....just in case there was something living in it....-precautionary measures)...and its good....no worries

 

Just read that Navajo pottery does have a shiny gold/brown/tan colour because of the pinon pine pitch that they add. The shape is apparently also associated with the Maricopa (southern Arizona) and also pottery from northern Mexico

 

I don't think this one has any pine pitch on it. It doesn't even look like it's burnished.

I have one with pinyon pine pitch on it, and it's decorated with a lizard. Now that I think about it there might be pictures of it somewhere here on the antiques board. I will search and see if I can find it.

 

Here it is.

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/g...jo-pinion-pine-pitch-pottery.6432/#post-88224

 

Very interesting read about the black light effect. Thank you

 

Another example had a steer head as decoration. The opinion was that it was not Native American but Mexican in origin.

 

Taupou will be able to say more, but in the meantime.......

Such micaceous clay is used by potters in Picuris and Taos Pueblos (New Mexico). Picuris potters have primarily made utilitarian bean pots and pitchers, while Taos potters make a greater variety of shapes, including wedding vases.


https://picclick.com/Taos-Pueblo-Pottery-Micaceous-Clay-Wedding-Vase-by-201776756394.html

And this jar, signed "Yellow Flower, Taos", has similar leaf elements added:

https://www.summerhouseindianart.com/h38-yellow-flower-jar.html


"Fire clouds" are a result of the firing process. Traditional Pueblo pottery is not fired in kilns, which can be well controlled, but in open piles fueled by wood, brush, and/or dung. During firing, pieces of fuel may shift and lay against a pot, blocking access of air and creating localized "reducing" conditions. A clay that will fire to a red or yellow color with sufficient air will instead turn black when oxygen is restricted.

 

Yes, it is an actual micaceous pottery piece, from Taos Pueblo, in New Mexico.

All wedding vases, however, were made for sale as a souvenir item. There is no documented example of any made before 1900, when the form was invented by John Candelario, an early Santa Fe curio dealer. He took the idea to Santa Clara potters and had them make the design to sell in his shop. He added the invented story and the name "wedding vase" to help sales. Since then, they have been made by many Indian tribes, as well as non-Indians, and today are even made in China and Mexico.

Yellow Flower was making pots with leaves in the 1970s, but this could date a little earlier, since the twisted handles have been around since the 1930s, and her later pots tended to have a more polished finish, according to Allan Hayes. His book has the pot in post #10 pictured, but I am unfamiliar with Yellow Flower, and do not know the dates she was making pottery.

 

I should add, that although Taos and Picuris are well-known for their micaceous pottery, it has been made at most other pueblos as well. Duane Anderson's book All That Glitters is a definitive reference, and includes potters from San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Nambe, Tesuque, Jemez, Cochiti, and Santo Domingo, as well as from non-pueblo tribes like Jicarilla Apache and the Navajo.

And, just as an aside, I wouldn't put a piece of traditionally fired pottery in the freezer. If there is any moisture at all in the pottery, which is possible since it is generally fired at lower temperatures, freezing it will cause the pot to expand and crack.