Pottery

Clay is not common in most Igbo communities. I found only two villages where significant pottery was made, and I was able to photograph a few examples from a third.

Ishiagu

Ishiagu lies south of Enugu and north of Okigwe. In 1965 one had to leave the major highway and travel on a secondary road into the interior to come to this amazing pottery center.

Although woodcarving is conducted exclusively by men among the Igbo, working in clay seemed to be performed exclusively by women, as was the case in. (By the way, Ishiagu translates to “Head of the Leopard,” but leopards are long gone from this densely populated area).

I heard about the pottery in Ishiagu from the Peace Corps Volunteers who had lived in the area before I arrived and it is the most spectacular pottery I ever saw in Nigeria, as well as the most attractive pottery I have ever seen pictured in publications on African art. It certainly deserves to have major scholarly attention.

I was able to purchase many pots over several visits and commonly brought other PCVs with me. I carefully packed several examples into trunks to follow me out of Nigeria, but they were never sent because the Biafran-Nigerian Civil War broke out. Luckily, I took pictures of many of them and am able to share them here. All of the pots (with two exceptions) are solid black in color. Prominent are the water pots/palm wine pots with long necks above the round bodies.

As wonderful as these types are, the ceremonial pots really stand out. Some of the tall ones (like the orange ones) and many of the medium ones have several rounded shapes with small handles stacked on narrow necks.

There were also some smaller round pots. I photographed one round pot with several spouts sticking up from the shoulder. See it sitting on top of a carved stool. There were also smaller round pots for cooling water. The last pictures are of round clay “trays” for offering kola in the greeting ceremony. In other villages, these are carved in wood, and several varieties appear in the literature.

The most amazing ceramics to me were shorter pots loaded with small humanoid figurines, often with some pinstriping. These shorter ones struck me as the most spectacular of the amazing pots at Ishiagu. I did get the name of these ceremonial pots. They are called udu egwu. Potter Nwa Dia Aga made these from Amata-Ishiagu. By the way, I never saw a potter's wheel in Ishiagu. I believe all these pots were totally handcrafted. How these master craftswomen did them is beyond me. These were all fired in open bonfires, not in kilns.

One day I found a pair of figurines that had not been attached to a pot. There is a male figure and a female figure, head and torso, with exaggerated sexual features, on a round base. Across the crest of the heads are small holes, as if to receive feathers or straws to fashion a kind of headdress. I can only conclude that these were used in some shrine. I was never able to learn of any incantations or spiritual appeals that might be associated with these. Photos of the two figurines can be seen in the Gallery on page 25, item 482.

As an aside, I thought to collect the names of the several districts, or neighborhoods, of Ishiagu. The naming tradition places the neighborhood name before the larger village name. For instance, I initially taught at the secondary school located at Eziama-Uli. The village was Uli; the neighborhood was Eziama. We also use this pattern in our own language. For instance, we say Bronx-New York, South Side-Chicago, West Side-Saginaw.

The neighborhood names for Ishiagu are: Ihe, Amata, Ngwogwo, Amakwe, Amagu, Amonye, Okue, Amaeze, Amaeke, Ihetutu, Ogwo (pronounced Awgwaw). I recorded syllable tones in my field notes but do not have the translations.

Inyi

Another place I was able to find pottery was the village of Inyi'. I first saw round water pots within the compound of Aka Gworo, the prolific carver'. Soon after, I found them in the Inyi market'. Asking about them led me to one D.O. Ezekwe, Managing Director, Inyi Traditional Variety Craft Pottery Industry—how's that for a business name? A surviving copy of his business card is attached.

The big round waterpots had a reddish hue, indicating to me that the clay used for those heavy uses contained a residue of the natural red soil. I remember Ezekwe telling me that he had received some advisory assistance from the British earlier on, and it helped him establish a process for refining and purifying the quality of the clay.

That superior quality shows in the gray clay with the great detailed work of his intricate ceremonial pots'. I have a few photos of those'. They were of superb detail and quality'. I had one shipped home with my masks, but it had not been fired, only air-dried'. Unfortunately, it did not survive the jostling in the hold of a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean on its way to me.

The big round waterpots typically had modest designs painted on them'. Others were left barren'. In many villages, including Inyi, people might have to walk a few miles daily to collect potable water for the needs of the day'. These pots were big and heavy'. Filled with water, they were really heavy. Yet, nearly every day, women (mostly always women) could be seen walking the paths to the water source and back with this incredible load carried on their heads, (usually balanced on their heads, an athletic/gymnastic ability learned from an early age by everyone)!

I tried but never got good at balancing things on my head. I did carry (and still do, thank you) some big loads on my head, but I always have to use at least one arm to keep it stable. Without that arm in the air, my load would be dashed to pieces on the ground in a flash.

I noticed that the palm wine tapsters had graduated to using 5-gallon glass carboys instead of round pots. They strapped the carboys to each side of the rear wheel of their bikes to collect and distribute their intoxicating juices. Can you spot the tapster in the tree?

I was able to bring home three small Inyi bowls, which appear in the Gallery, page 25 items 485, 486, and 487.

Iboko

When sorting through a pile of old photos for this section, I came across a few pictures of wonderful ceremonial pots from the village Iboko'. These photos I obtained through the efforts of PCV Merle Beckwith'. Notice the unusual drum pot. It is rather short and has a ring handle'. A leather patch is hit against the side hole, sending the resonance from the belly through the neck'. It makes a muffled and subtle low note, which is easily overpowered by the noisier metal gongs and drums so common in Igbo masquerades'. The other smaller pots, which had a unique and wonderful design, were most assuredly used for shrine and divination purposes.