The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Untitled (bowl)

Untitled (bowl)

c. 1960s
(Nigerian, c. 1925–1984)
8.5 x 31 x 31 cm (3 3/8 x 12 3/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Ladi Kwali is the only woman to appear on Nigerian currency (the 20 Naira bill), where she is depicted at her potter’s wheel.

Description

Ladi Kwali was Nigeria's foremost modernist ceramicist. From a pottery background, she learned Gwari/Gbagyi hand-building techniques from maternal relatives. She later learned Western techniques like wheel throwing and kiln-firing at the Abuja Pottery Centre. This thrown circular bowl is glazed with tenmoku, a Chinese-inspired Japanese coating. Kwali painted its interior with a Gwari-style eel with zig-zagging scales. She described her combining of influences as "translating."
  • c. 1968–1971
    Acquired in Abuja
    after 1971–2021
    by direct descent
    2021
    (Bonhams, London, New Bond Street, October 12, 2021, lot 53, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2021–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled (bowl)|url=false|author=Ladi Kwali OON MBE|year=c. 1960s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.166