Ladi Kwali became famous around the world for combining traditional African and Western studio pottery techniques. As a result, she offered workshops, demonstrations, and exhibitions in London, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and throughout the United States.
The Ladi Kwali hybrid style combined the traditional Gwari process and traditional coiling method, which she learned from her aunt, with Western wheel throwing and glazing techniques, which she learned at the Abuja Pottery Training Center. Ladi Kwali’s pottery changed the face of modern pottery around the world while still maintaining the traditional open firing method with herbal glazes.
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.
Ladi Kwali Art Works
A tureen with a lid Water Jug Lidded tureen
Coil Pottery
Her aunt taught her how to manufacture ceramics as a child using the traditional coiling process. The classic Ladi Kwali pot was coiled in stoneware clay and adorned with lizard motifs before being baked with a dark lustrous finish. For viewers in the Western world. some of them are water jars, cooking pots, bowls,
Cause of Death
Ladi Kwali, a Nigerian potter, died in Minna on August 12, 1984, at the age of 59, leaving behind a legacy of magnificent pottery. Her cause of death, however, has not been revealed.
Husband
She married but never had children, and there is little information about her romantic life.
Family
Her brother and aunty are the members of her family who have been profiled. She was up in a family where pottery making was a traditional feminine heritage. “Even in the early years of pottery production, Ladi Kwali excelled in the crafts,” said Mallam Mekaniki Kyebese, Ladi Kwali’s younger brother. Her aunty was also noted in her biography as having taught her how to make pottery as a child using the traditional coiling process.
As a result, little is known about her parents and other relatives.
Date of Birth
Ladi Kwali was born in 1925 and died on 12 August 1984.
