Water Jar thumbnail 1
Water Jar thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 143, The Timothy Sainsbury Gallery

Water Jar

about 1957 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This water jar was made by Michael Cardew at the Abuja Pottery in Nigeria. Cardew had been employed by the colonial government in order to explore ways of improving the quality of locally produced pottery. However, Cardew himself believed that the traditional pottery had achieved a refined state of beauty, was well-suited to local needs, and could not be improved on. Instead, he proposed the foundation of a centre where potters could be trained to produce glazed wares to supply the demands of the new middle class, and helped to establish small local potteries for this purpose. In practice, this scheme was not entirely successful, and over time the emphasis shifted to the production of high-quality wares for the local and developing overseas market, made at Abuja by a core group of the most successful trainees. This jar was bought from an exhibition of Abuja pottery held at the Berkeley Galleries in London in 1958.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Bottle
  • Stopper
Materials and techniques
Stoneware, painted decoration in a dark glaze
Dimensions
  • Depth: 24.70cm
  • Height: 31.90cm
Marks and inscriptions
'MC' in monogram and 'ABUJA' seal, impressed
Object history
Acquisition details: Berkeley Galleries, London

RF number: 58/1067
Production
Pottery: Abuja Pottery, Nigeria
Summary
This water jar was made by Michael Cardew at the Abuja Pottery in Nigeria. Cardew had been employed by the colonial government in order to explore ways of improving the quality of locally produced pottery. However, Cardew himself believed that the traditional pottery had achieved a refined state of beauty, was well-suited to local needs, and could not be improved on. Instead, he proposed the foundation of a centre where potters could be trained to produce glazed wares to supply the demands of the new middle class, and helped to establish small local potteries for this purpose. In practice, this scheme was not entirely successful, and over time the emphasis shifted to the production of high-quality wares for the local and developing overseas market, made at Abuja by a core group of the most successful trainees. This jar was bought from an exhibition of Abuja pottery held at the Berkeley Galleries in London in 1958.
Bibliographic reference
Watson, Oliver. British Studio Pottery : the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, Oxford : Phaidon, Christie's, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.112-1958

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2000
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