Oval porcelain salad bowl, Ntaban wax print – the Swallows

In Ghana, when this fabric passes by, people say “Sika wo ntaban”: money has wings.

Inside, a band of navy blue, indigo and anise green stripes spirals along the rim; midnight blue swallows in white medallions follow the curve, carried by their orange crescent. The background remains white. We pay tribute to the iconic “Swallows” fabric: our reinterpretation, “Ntaban,” means “the wings” in Twi (Ghana), after the Ghanaian name “Sika wo ntaban.”

🕊️ One pattern, a thousand names

Swallows with open wings, each in a medallion: this design, born over seventy years ago, has become a recognizable wax print cloth in West Africa. It regained popularity in the 1990s with white swallows on a royal blue background. In the world of wax print cloth, the women traders and those who wear the fabrics give the patterns their names.

• Swallows (French-speaking countries): the name given by French speakers.
• Sika wo ntaban (Ghana, Twi): “money has wings”; fortune can fly away quickly.
• Ago lè fio homè (Benin): this cloth could accompany a marriage proposal or a request for an audience with the king.
• Eneke (Nigeria, Igbo): the bird of an Igbo proverb made famous by Chinua Achebe; since men have been pulling it without fail, it flies without landing.
• Sagbadrè (West Africa)

In Togo, this fabric dressed the crews of Air Afrique, to the point of taking its name.

✨ What the pattern tells us

The pattern speaks of good fortune, freedom and the transitions from one life to another: change, new beginnings. With humor, it reminds us that wealth can fly away quickly. It is given as a gift for a wedding, a departure or a new home.

Our reinterpretation

From fabric to salad bowl, the design becomes a spiral band along the inner rim; the background remains white. The colors—navy blue, indigo blue, anise green, orange and white—bring the midnight blue swallows to life. This salad bowl is decorated to order in our Alfortville workshop, with the pattern prepared, applied and hand-glazed before firing.

At your table

In the soft light at the end of the day, on a raw linen tablecloth, this oval salad bowl brings guests together. A gift for a wedding, a departure or a new home, echoing good fortune and new beginnings.

Features

• Contents: 1 oval salad bowl.
• Colors: navy blue, indigo blue, anise green, orange, white.
• Material: porcelain.
• Dimensions: salad bowl 26 × 18 cm, height 9 cm.
• Personalization: pattern, colors, first name, date or message available upon request.
• In case of breakage: individual replacement possible (same pattern, same dimensions), if the shape remains in our catalog.
• In the same pattern: set of 6 round plates, set of 12 square plates, breakfast set (plate, bowl, mug).

Write to us to personalize this salad bowl and give it wings.