Jar

YorubaWW-1900-137023

1900·Terracotta·50.2 × 42 × 35.6 cm (19 3/4 × 16 1/2 × 14 in.)

<p>Yoruba potters in the Ekiti region typically build a jar’s walls and rims from a hollowed-out lump of clay. After the completed jar has hardened, the potter inverts it and scrapes the outside of the base until it is evenly thin and smooth. The form of this elaborately decorated vessel echoes a type of domestic storage container with knobs on opposing sides that serve as handles.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1900
Medium: Terracotta
Dimensions: 50.2 × 42 × 35.6 cm (19 3/4 × 16 1/2 × 14 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Yoruba

Artist

Yoruba

Textile

Yoruba is an Atlantic–Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. Yoruba speakers number roughly 50 million, including around 2 million second-language or L2 speakers. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria, Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

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