POTTERY IN NIGERIA

Generally, pottery is the craft of making earthenware vessels. It is the art of forming objects of clay in a moist plastic condition and then drying them by either exposure to sun and air, fire, baking in kilns or ovens. Finally, they are formed in various types like cooking vessels, food bowls, storage pots, drinking cups, flowerpots and frying or drying pots etc.

Pottery making involves digging the clay at waterside or stream, beating it, soaking it, separating it from foreign matters, kneading it, shaping it, decorating it, and firing the pot etc. The making of pottery includes the following basic methods namely: shaping, molding, decorating and firing.
Decoration varies from one ethnic group to another or from one area to another or from one potter to the other, to show – case the culture of the area or tribe. Thus, the patterns of decoration of pottery at Afikpo in Ebonyi state are different from the patterns of pottery at Ilorin in Kwara State or Gwari in Niger State.

Sometimes design can consist of circles or loops. A potter may draw a pattern of leaves or animals or insects like lizards, scorpions and birds, decoration is not only restricted to the exterior part of pottery. The inside of the lid can be decorated as well.
Pottery is one of the craft of the ancient Nigeria that is still being practiced in most parts of the country today. It is Nigeria’s most cultural material that has caught the attention and interest of early British archaeologists.
Pottery as an art started as far back as the late Stone Age. It has survived into the present age and has been studied by various artistic anthropologists and archaeologists and has caught the attention and interest of early British archaeologists in Nigeria.

Pottery has been described as one of the cheapest arts being practiced in Nigeria and heavily dominated by women; this is because, the raw materials used in making pottery are clay and water, which are common as well as, found throughout the country. They are not scarce commodity, and machines are not used in its production.
Pottery making is universally practiced in practically all the ethnic groups of Nigeria including Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, etc.
The earliest examples of pottery making in Nigeria were found in Afikpo in Ebonyi State, however a British archaeologist Professor Thurstan – Shaw was known to have excavated some material remains of pottery at Iwo – Eleru in Yoruba land, which were older.

As a craft, pottery making is solely a woman’s occupation among the Yoruba people and is usually passed from mother to daughter through apprenticeship. They carry out their everyday activity at a specific pottery site known as ‘eebu’.
An eebu consists of a series of work areas and is usually located in a sheltered vicinity. Moulds and stands for pots are kept in front of the sheds. The fireplace for firing the molded pots are situated close to the work area for easy, and proper monitoring during firing.
One of the major places in Nigeria popularly known for her artistry in pottery is Illorin, Kwara State. It is an important centre of pottery, producing both red (pupa) and black (dudu) pottery wares. Pottery works are produced in different pottery centers in the present Ilorin town, Okelele, Dada and Adeta pottery centres are well known for well-finished products.
Studying about the art of pottery is a revelation into the intelligence, skill, of these people despite the non-availability of today’s high technological development.

In the northern part of the country, the climate is conducive for grazing in Sahelian plains of Northern Nigeria, and this makes it suitable for the rearing of herd, which are tended by the nomadic Fulanis.
Thus, since they are always on the move with their horde of sheep and cattle, the nomadic Fulanis need, as in the olden days, simple and light domestic utensils which are not just portable but resistant to shocks and breakages. Earthenware vessels fall into this category of household or domestic products for nomadic life of the Fulanis.

Moving to the south, where there is a change of weather and plants, hence the residents are mostly farmers with more settled life than their nomadic Fulani counterparts in the North.
The household vessels that are largely in use among the southerners with settled life include large and heavy domestic utensils such as mortar and pestle, for pounding cassava and yam, and deep clay pot for fermenting cassava or storing water for drinking, bathing and washing.

Ladi Kwali the famous female Nigerian potter was born in the village of Kwali in the Gwari region of Northern Nigeria, where pottery was an indigenous occupation among women. She learned to make pottery as a child by her aunt using the traditional method of coiling. She made large pots for use as water jars, cooking pots, bowls, and flasks from coils of clay, beaten from the inside with a flat wooden paddle. Her pots were distinguished for their beauty and decoration, and she was recognized regionally as a gifted and outstanding potter.
While still using the traditional open firing method with herbal shiny surface, Ladi Kwali’s pottery modified the face of modern pottery around the world.

In acknowledgement of her achievements and hard work, Nigeria graced the Nigerian 20 Naira note with her picture; she is the only woman to have such honor. The only woman in the Nigerian currency.
Most of her works are displayed in well-known places like the National Museum Lagos, the Barbier-Muller Museum Geneva, Switzerland, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, and Albert Museum, London.