Traditionally, African pottery is hand-built. They have the advantage of low cost and thermo-shock resistance quality which make them suitable for all use.
Pottery has been described as one of the cheapest arts practised in virtually all the ethnic groups in Nigeria and heavily dominated by women.
The raw materials used in making pottery are clay and water, which are common as well as found throughout the country. Likewise, the implements used for both gathering the raw materials and molding the pots, such as shovel diggers, hoes, machetes, trowels, pick-axes, calabash or basins as the case may be are not far-fetched, they are universal.
Generally, pottery making involves digging the clay at water–side or stream, pounding, soaking, sifting, kneading, and shaping them into various styles like cooking vessels, food bowls, water fetching pots, storage red pots, drinking cups, flower, decorative, frying, or dyeing pots, funerary urns etc.
They can be of various types, such as pitchers, plates, kettles, lamps, which in Yoruba language are ikoko, ladugbo, ape, isaasun, isa, kete, fitila, sago, oru, amu, ikoko (ilu), etc. After molding is decorating, and finally, firing the pots to make them strong follows.
I had a privileged to come across this pottery during my last visit to Ijero Town in Ekiti State in western part of Nigeria and I had a great pleasure photographing EWATOMI & DOLAPO with the Children of Ijero Town.
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