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The Myth of a Redundant Craft: Potters in Northern Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Rob Allen
Rob Allen
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, Thames Polytechnic, London
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Extract

The potter is regarded as one of the few truly ‘traditional’ craftsmen still operating in West Africa. But, though the resilience of the craft has been noted, a general decline in its significance is accepted. Nor is this simply a matter of numbers. Nearly 40 years ago, K. C. Murray commented that ‘Pottery, which is one of the most important indigenous crafts in Nigeria, has escaped progress altogether. The traditional work has remained unchanged, except that in recent years its quality has declined’. Much of the responsibility for this state of affairs has been placed on the ‘primitive’ nature of both the product and the craft, as well as the easy availability of metal and enamelware substitutes as a direct result of colonial penetration.

Type
Africana
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , March 1983 , pp. 159 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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References

page 159 note 1 Notably by Cardew, Michael, ‘West African Pottery’, in Africa South (Cape Town), 3, 1958, pp. 109–13;Google Scholar and by Leoni, Diane and Pritchett, Jack, ‘Traditional Hausa Pottery in Zaria City’, in Savanna (Zaria), 7, 1, 1978, pp. 3–16.Google Scholar

page 159 note 2 Murray, K. C., ‘The Arts and Crafts of Nigeria: their past and future’, in Africa (London), XIV, 1944, pp. 155–64.Google Scholar

page 159 note 3 Leoni and Pritchett, loc. cit. p. 12.

page 159 note 4 Ibid. p. 3.

page 159 note 5 Ibid.

page 160 note 1 Goddard, A. D., Fine, J. C., and Norman, D. W., ‘A Socio-Economic Study of Three Villages in the Sokoto Closely-Settled Zone’, in Samaru Miscellaneous Papers (Zaria), 34, 1971, p. 3.Google Scholar

page 160 note 2 Ibid. p. 4.

page 160 note 3 Leoni and Pritchett, loc. cit. p. 12.

page 160 note 4 Shenton, Bob and Watts, Mike, ‘Capitalism and Hunger in Northern Nigeria’, in Review of African Political Economy (London), 15–16, 1979, p. 57.Google Scholar

page 160 note 5 Ibid. p. 58.

page 161 note 1 Leoni and Pritchett, loc. cit. p. 13.

page 161 note 2 Ibid. p. 14.

page 166 note 1 Gerry, Chris, ‘Small-Scale Manufacturing and Repairs in Dakar: a survey of market relations within an urban economy’, in Bromley, Ray and Gerry, Chris (eds.), Casual Work and Poverty in Third World Cities (London, 1979), p. 233.Google Scholar

page 166 note 2 Gerry, loc. cit. p. 220.