Fredrick Kofi Abban (b. 1967)

Adɔfo (“Beloved”)

Sculptural Vase

2025

Wood-fired terracotta, unglazed

H 76 × W 36 cm (approx.)

Adɔfo (“Beloved”) is a vessel by Ghanaian master potter Fredrick Kofi Abban, who has been working in the Mankessim pottery tradition for over three decades. The piece stands 76cm tall, a scale Abban can hold cleanly in part because the techniques have been in his family for generations.

It is hand-built on a traditional wooden wheel turned by an apprentice, with sculptural elements applied to the body once the form is up. Heart, leaf and ring motifs sit across the surface as a language of devotion and kinship, the meaning that gives the piece its name.

The clay is dug locally near Mankessim, in Ghana’s Central Region. The vessel is wood-fired in Abban’s vast domed kiln, unglazed, and was placed away from the hottest zone of the firing, where lighter tonal variation and softer surface markings develop. No two pieces come out of the kiln the same way..

Adɔfo is a commanding decorative vessel, suited to a console, sideboard, or low plinth where its scale and surface can be appreciated up close.