Description

Ladi Kwali, a master potter, learned the art of hand-built pottery at an early age from her aunt. By 1950 the ruler in her area had assembled a collection of her work, distinctively decorated with rouletted patterns and incised designs of snakes, crocodiles, scorpions, birds, and fish. Before firing, she painted the object's surface with white porcelain clay (kaolin) and feldspar and rubbed it off with a wet sponge, leaving the white pigment in the incised designs. The pot was then dipped in a glaze that is transparent when fired following Western conventions. Ladi Kwali signed her vessel.