Magdalene Odundo

Acquired by a private American collector in the early 1990s, and thence by descent to the present owner

New York, Anthony Ralph Gallery, Magdalene Odundo, 1991, un-numbered exhibition, illustrated.

David Queensberry (intro.), Magdalene Odundo, London, 1991, illustrated p.21;
Anthony Slayter-Ralph (ed.), Magdalene Odundo, Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2004, cat. no.73, illustrated, p.110.

Structurally sound. The work appears in excellent overall condition, with no obvious cracks, scratches or breaks. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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We are grateful to the Artist for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

In the masterful execution of her fascinating and unique works, Magdalene Odundo makes reference not only to her Kenyan routes, but a large and expansive source of art historical references that vary from English Elizabethan costume design to the North America Pueblo pottery.  These borrowings root her work within a wider global context, forming an amalgam of different cultural ideas that serve to create something quite extraordinary.

Training both in Britain, and briefly under the Gwari traditions of Cardew’s pottery in Abuja in Nigeria, Odundo has, over the past three decades honed her unique style that sets her pots apart, with a character and energy quite unique. Using the very traditional material of terracotta, Odundo applies a further thin terracotta slip, inspired in part by the Roman techniques of terra sigillata slip decoration, which with further, labour-intensive burnishing results in a wonderfully glossy, soft finish, the likes of which can be seen in the present examples. Inspired by the Native American artist Maria Martinez, whom she had visited during her tour to the United States in the 1970s, Odundo further distorts the final appearance of the work by monitoring the levels of air and smoke in the kiln; an oxidised or smokeless kiln results in the wonderfully rich, vivid orange colour of the present work, whilst a smoky or carbonising atmosphere (often achieved by the addition of combustible materials such as wood chips or shavings) yields a lustrous black finish (as seen in lot 210) which has the brilliant addition of a patched, mottled area of deep orange, the result of an addition of air to the cooling process.  The variance of the practical process continues to excite the artist:

“Fire and flame fascinate me, the flame colluding with the metals in the clay to achieve a black lustre metallic or matt black; it is like alchemy” (The Artist, quoted in Emmanuel Cooper, ‘The Clay of Life: The Ceramic Vessels of Magdalene Odundo’ in Anthony Slayter-Ralph (ed.), Magdalene Odundo, Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2004, p.29)

In Odundo’s work decoration and form come together to a create a whole, at times making bold reference to physical forms (as seen in the studs or nipples of the present work – perhaps references to ritual scarification, body markings, piercings or tattoos that play a part in many African societies, especially for women), for, as Emmanuel Cooper notes, ‘Odundo, like many artists today, has found a way of investigating concepts of identity and notions of the self, not by recreating traditional forms but by adapting them to give them meaning and significance in the modern world” (Emmanuel Cooper, ‘The Clay of Life: The Ceramic Vessels of Magdalene Odundo’ in Anthony Slayter-Ralph (ed.), Magdalene Odundo, Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2004, p.41).