British Empire Article


Dakakari Grave Marker


These hollow legless pottery figures are grave markers or memorial sculptures which were produced by the Dakakari people of north-west Nigeria and probably dates from about 1900. Women were the pottery makers in this area and grave memorial sculptures were made by a select number of families with the technical secrets being handed down from mother to daughter.  

It is likely that the figure was made for the grave of a prominent man of a village. Ordinary villagers had no such elaborate grave markers. The pottery is fragile and people who have written about the Dakakari have commented that older graves become neglected and the grave pottery broken.. Photograph courtesy of Francesca Whetnall


An ADO in Zuru Article


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by Stephen
Luscombe