Born in Kwali, a northern Nigerian town of the Gwari Yamma people, Ladi Kwali gained international celebrity as a potter in the late 1950s. Like most women in the region, she learned to make traditional coiled pottery at an early age. Her work was much admired by the British potter Michael Cardew, and he invited her to work with him at the government-funded Pottery Training Centre in nearby Abuja. This she did from 1954. Her international reputation followed exhibitions and demonstrations in Britain, Germany, the USA and Canada from 1958 onwards. This pot was made in Abuja around 1957. Though its decoration and coiled construction derive from traditional Nigerian pottery, its stoneware body and glazed surface are the result of Cardew's influence. It was purchased by the Museum from the first exhibition of her work in London, which was held at the Berkeley Galleries in 1958.