b. 1925, Kwali, Gwari region (now Abuja), Nigeria | d. 1984 Lived and worked in Northern Nigeria Ladi Dosei Kwali was a pioneering Nigerian potter whose mastery bridged traditional Gbagyi craft and Western studio ceramics. Trained by her aunt using the ancestral coiling and pinching techniques, she crafted utilitarian water jars, cooking pots, and storage containers adorned with poetically incised motifs of animals and geometric forms. Her remarkable talent caught the attention of the Emir of Abuja, whose patronage introduced her work to Michael Cardew. Invited to become the first female trainee at the Abuja Pottery Training Centre in 1954, she learned wheel throwing, glazing, and kiln firing, while still preserving her hand-building tradition, producing ceramic works that fused indigenous forms with contemporary techniques. Kwali’s work gained international prominence through exhibitions in London, Paris, and the United States. She received numerous honors, including Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1963, an honorary doctorate from Ahmadu Bello University in 1977, the Nigerian National Merit Award and the Officer of the Order of the Niger in 1981—becoming the only Nigerian woman to appear on national currency, featuring on the 20 naira note. She passed away in 1984, but her legacy endures in the renamed Ladi Kwali Pottery Centre, Ladi Kwali Road, and as an icon of modern African ceramics.