‘A temple of love’: Joana Vasconcelos unveils colossal wedding cake sculpture

For the last five years, celebrated Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos has been cooking up a 12m-high sculptural pavilion in the British countryside. Her three-tiered Wedding Cake is a Rothschild Foundation commission for the Waddesdon estate (a French Renaissance-style château owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation). Completed in all its splendour, it is now ready to unveil to the public. A ‘temple of love’, as the artist calls it. 

Part sculpture, and part architectural garden folly, Wedding Cake is an extraordinary, gigantic, fully immersive sculpture that fuses pâtisserie, design and architecture. Picture this: a tiled cake shimmering with glazed icing-like pale pinks, greens and blues from inside and out. Then beset with sculptural ornaments plus the sounds of trickling water, and a site-specific lighting scheme. Mouth watering yet? All that fabulous profusion that Vasconcelos adores, and so it lovingly became her ‘impossible project’.

And this undertaking is emblematic of Vasconcelos’ practice. Her materials reflect the multitude of international influences on Portuguese culture over centuries – born from a history of exploring and seafaring, from Chinese and Japanese ceramics and Brazilian carnival, incorporating colour and light. In fact, for this project, the ceramics were made by the Viúva Lamego manufactory, which has been operating in Sintra, Portugal, for over 170 years. 

But besides that wink-wink sumptuousness of Vasconcelos’ work, there is also a nod to the sagacious – the notions of what we see as domesticity, femininity, and empowerment. Plus a definitive nod at the arts and crafts of yore. Delicious.

‘An enormous project such as this one could only happen with the vision and encouragement provided by a generous and extraordinary patron such as Lord Rothschild,’ shares Vasconcelos. ‘I have been addressing the subject of love throughout my career for almost 30 years now, but this is my biggest challenge so far. I wanted people to have three different approaches to it: looking from the outside, enjoying the surroundings from the different levels or balconies and rising to the top, finally completing the artwork with their presence.’

At Waddesdon, a worthwhile cultural landmark rooted in artistic creativity, Wedding Cake will stand in a grove of trees alongside the 19th-century dairy, built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (the creator of Waddesdon) to entertain and charm guests at his famous house parties. Lord Rothschild adds, ‘The vision, imagination and ambition exemplified in the Wedding Cake is a perfect match for the passion which drove Baron Ferdinand to build the manor and the dairy, where he intended that his many friends would be surprised and delighted at every turn.’

And amazed and thrilled everyone is. ‘Waddesdon was built to entertain, so what better way to mark the continuity today of that spirit of hospitality, artistic creativity and Rothschild family patronage than through the commission of this magical object, an emblem of love and celebration,’ adds Pippa Shirley, director of Waddesdon. ‘Projects like this require a leap of faith from both artist and patron.’ 

The history of the wedding cake is long and varied, full of symbolism and tradition. From Ancient Rome, where bread was broken over the bride’s head to bring good fortune to the couple, to contemporary confections that embody celebration and social status. Vasconcelos’ Wedding Cake is a playful addition to this rich history.

Inspired by the exuberant Baroque buildings and highly decorative ceramic traditions of Lisbon – where Vasconcelos lives and works – the artwork is also a contemporary response to the great Rothschild traditions of hospitality with echoes of 18th-century garden pavilions.

It reminds us of the long European history of placing fanciful buildings in gardens and landscapes and forms part of a growing collection of significant contemporary and historic sculptures, brought together by Lord Rothschild. Today, the Dairy is still a much sought-after entertaining space, and the presence of the Wedding Cake, a symbol of love and happiness, is a perfect complement.

Joana Vasconcelos, Wedding Cake is at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, from 18 June, tours are available to 26 October. waddesdon.org.uk