The Stylistic and Iconographic Consideration of Awka Ndiagu Pottery and the Igbo Aesthetic Evaluation.

Abstract

Among the Igbo, the artist is recognized for the skill which he possesses, the skill which the Igbo refer to as nka. This possession is admired among the people, and comes in strongly into the aesthetic admiration of the works of the artist. Among the Awha-Ndiagu potters, this aesthetic admiration is ventilated in the surface ornamentation of their pottery. This paper examines the stylistic and iconographic content of the pottery of this community against the backdrop of the possible classification of their pottery into two broad groups: form for ceremonials and festivals, and forms for everyday use. It concludes that these stylistic and iconographic contents and statements therefore fit into the differing principles of Igbo aesthetic evaluation.