id:			449755
accession number:	2021.166
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2021.166
updated:		2023-04-19 11:40:21.895000

Untitled (bowl), c. 1960s. Ladi Kwali OON MBE (Nigerian, c. 1925–1984). Stoneware; 8.5 x 31 x 31 cm (3 3/8 x 12 3/16 x 12 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, J.H. Wade Trust Fund 2021.166

title:				Untitled (bowl)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1960s
creation date earliest:		1960
creation date latest:		1969
current location:		
creditline:			J.H. Wade Trust Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, West Africa, Nigeria
technique:	stoneware
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Stone
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Ladi Kwali OON MBE (Nigerian, c. 1925–1984) 

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measurements: 8.5 x 31 x 31 cm (3 3/8 x 12 3/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	stamp: rectangular, illegible
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	stamp:  oval, LK (for “Ladi Kwali”)
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Acquired in Abuja
	date: c. 1968–1971
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	by direct descent
	date: after 1971–2021
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Bonhams, London, New Bond Street, October 12, 2021, lot 53, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: 2021
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2021–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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

digital 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."

wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	
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IMAGES