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Lot 14*
Lami Toto(Nigerian)Vessel 31.5 x 33 x 33cm (12 3/8 x 13 x 13in).
16 February – 2 March 2023, 12:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £11,475 inc. premium
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Lami Toto (Nigerian)
Vessel
stamped 'Abuja' in Arabic and 'L.T.' (base)
stoneware
31.5 x 33 x 33cm (12 3/8 x 13 x 13in).
stamped 'Abuja' in Arabic and 'L.T.' (base)
stoneware
31.5 x 33 x 33cm (12 3/8 x 13 x 13in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Acquired directly from the Abuja Pottery Train Centre circa 1970's;
Thence by direct descent;
A private collection.
Traditional forms of Gwari pottery maintained (in the instance of water vessels) a drum to hold 5 to 6 gallons of water and stood at about 15 inches high. Historically, motifs of birds, reptiles and fish were incised onto the clay once the vessel or charger had been formulated. While in the present work, this water vessel is 12 inches high, the decorative elements of the piece are maintained in keeping with female potter's consistency in exercising the Gwari traditions of incising and story telling.
Incised onto a light Body 44 clay to contrast the effect of an Abuja Jun glaze, the present work possesses the zoomorphic, geometrical images decoratively typical of traditional Gwari potters. Much like Toto who joined the Training Centre in 1963 along with Kande Ushafa, Ladi Kwali also included animalistic designs in her decorations, incised onto her works. With heavily thematic use of reptile depictions, both potters' use of this decorative motif derives from the indigenous pots of their heritage, informing their modern works.
These intricate displays are consistent with the meticulously executed form of the vessel. Part thrown, part hand coiled, the present lot is tremendously well balanced, marking Lami Toto as a prominent potter not only in her position as one of the few female potters at the training centre, but also one of the most highly skilled and dedicated.
Bibliography
John Edgeler, Michael Cardew and stoneware, continuity and change, (Winchcombe: Cotswolds living Publications, 2008)
Tanya Harrod, The Last Sane Man, Michael Cardew, Modern Pots, Colonialism and the Counterculture, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 294.