Monumental Dave Drake Stoneware Jar that Sold Today at Brunk Auctions in North Carolina

A record price at auction for southern pottery may have been achieved today at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carollina as this monumental nineteenth century stoneware jar made by the enslaved African American potter Dave Drake (1801-1865) in Edgefield, South Carolina sold for $150,000 before the auction premiums ($184,500 after). The jar was formerly illustrated in the May 1998 issue of The Magazine Antiques. It is inscribed, "Lm September 7 1857 / Dave."

While this is not the largest jar known from Dave, its size is still quite impressive, measuring 18 inches tall and 17 inches wide. It is smaller than the jar made by Dave that is currently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it is larger than that exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which was made a few weeks before this jar, dated, "August 22 1857." Both museum's jars are also inscribed with poems, which was a way Dave proclaimed his ability to read and write. Similar examples are found in the collection of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

There are also excellent examples of Dave's production displayed in the William C. and Susan S. Mariner Southern Ceramics Gallery at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Salem-Winton, North Carolina. In fact, this gallery displays some of the best southern pottery in existence today.

Monumental Dave Drake Stoneware Jar 

19th Century Stoneware Jar Made by Dave Drake in Edgefield, South Carolina

Inscribed, "Lm  September 7 1857 / Dave"

Measures 18" tall and 17" wide.

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Photo Courtesy: Brunk Auctions

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