The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Untitled (bowl)

c. 1960s

Ladi Kwali OON MBE

(Nigerian, c. 1925–1984)
Africa, West Africa, Nigeria
stoneware
8.5 x 31 x 31 cm (3 3/8 x 12 3/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2021.166
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

Skilled in Gwari pottery techniques and aesthetics, Ladi Kwali learned non-African techniques like wheel throwing and kiln-fired glazing at Nigeria’s Abuja Pottery Centre. She was the first Nigerian woman to pursue such pottery techniques there, including Japanese techniques used by artists of the “British Studio Pottery” movement beginning in the early 1900s. This distinctive glazed bowl reflects her practice’s dual inspirations, which she called “translating.” The bowl’s delicate, mirrorlike surface reflects her experience with Japanese-style glazes like tenmoku, in which a coating can achieve different visual effects or colors. Kwali cooled the brown-black glaze slowly, allowing iron in the glaze to surface as crystals. Departing from the incised motifs of Gwari pottery, Kwali painted a curving eel with zigzagging scales around the bowl’s interior.
  • 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
  • From the Earth through Her Hands: African Ceramics. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 21, 2024-September 21, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled (bowl)|url=false|author=Ladi Kwali OON MBE|year=c. 1960s|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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