Nkata Basket from Awgbu

A photograph depicting a woven organic vessel known as a nkata, collected by Northcote Thomas in Awgbu (present-day Anambra State, Nigeria). The boat-shaped basket is constructed from wide, flat, plant-based organic fiber strips using a plain weave pattern and features a reinforced rounded rim. According to archival documentation, the vessel was used for storing pepper, salt, and ogili, a traditional fermented castor seed condiment. An attached archival tag identifies the object as part of the Thomas Collection, dated between 1910 and 1913, and notes its association with the Obu, a traditional Igbo ancestral hall or sacred homestead.