Carved and painted wooden geese from Korea. Geese were thought to keep one mate for life, so at a wedding the groom presented wooden geese as a vow of faithfulness. The British Museum holds a 19th-century example.
Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.
The British Museum holds carved and painted wooden geese from Korea, made in the 19th century (As1991,1220.1). Its record explains why a goose: the bird was believed to keep one mate for its whole life.
To verify: Whether the museum object is one goose or a pair, and its exact date
At the wedding, the groom presented the wooden geese as a vow of faithfulness, the museum notes. A bird believed to pair for life stood for the promise he was making.
We tell the custom as the museum records it: a groom’s vow of faithfulness, made with carved birds. If we make geese, they will be small new carvings, not antiques. The promise belongs to the two people making it.
