Footed Bowl with fish motif, c 1960s

Ladi Kwali

Exhibited by Tafeta

Material Stoneware, grey, transparent and Iron glazing with incised fish motif in the well, impressed LK and Abuja pottery seals

Dimensions 9 x 31 x 31 cm

Place of Creation Abuja

Price €13,600

Status Vetted

About the Work

Ladi Kwali’s glazed water pots remain the most iconic expressions of her hybrid practice. Built through the Gbari coiling method, the vessels were shaped by hand, then refined with tools specific to her region: a blade-like palm rib for small pots, a porcupine quill for larger vessels, and wooden roulettes or pieces of string to create horizontal bands of repeating patterns. Her distinctive sgraffito technique, achieved by incising through a layer of white porcelain slip, revealed contrasting tones beneath and created a dynamic interplay between line and glaze.

Her local renown drew the attention of Alhaji Suleiman Barau, the Emir of Abuja, who collected her pots and displayed them in his palace. It was there that British studio potter Michael Cardew (1901–1983) first encountered Kwali’s work during his 1950 tour of Northern Nigeria. Cardew later introduced glazing and wheel-throwing to Ladi Kwali, resulting for example, in this grey stoneware thrown bowl by Kwali. The footed bowl is decorated with design of fish drawn into slip and is covered with grey, transparent and Iron glazing.

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