Dave's Earliest Dated Inscribed Stoneware Jar from Edgefield, South Carolina, "June 12, 1834," Retaining a Lengthy History of Ownership

Dave Drake (ca. 1800-1873) was born into slavery in South Carolina around 1800 and bought and sold between five different potter families over the course of his life. Working in the Edgefield area, Dave was a masterful craftsman capable of producing some of the largest vessels possible by one man. The earliest of Dave's known inscribed stoneware jars (which span 1834-1864) from Edgefield, South Carolina is dated "June 12, 1834," and bears the word "Concatination." This jar sold at Sotheby's in New York City on May 19, 2005; the jar retained a lengthy documented history of ownership dating back to around the time the jar was made, although it sold as part of the Dr. and Mrs. Jack V. Buerkle Collection: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2005/important-american-folk-art-furniture-and-silver-including-the-gary-gold-dinner-service-n08097/lot.149.html.

According to the auction catalog, "The use of the word concatination; meaning "to chain together; to connect as by the links of a chain; union by a series or a chain" may be profound reference to Dave's condition as an enslaved man. Certainly it is a testimony to his education, intelligence and eloquence."

Furthermore, Timothy Anglin Burgard wrote about a related jar in 2021 that is owned by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: "The Museums’ stoneware jar, most likely created at the Pottersville Stoneware Manufactory in Edgefield, is inscribed 12 April 1836 under the rim and Catination on the shoulder. The words on both jars are most likely variant spellings of concatenation (a series of interconnected things or events). Catenate (to connect or link in a series) is derived from the Latin root catena, or chain, thus infusing these inscriptions with powerful associations—not only with the most powerful symbol of human bondage, but also with family connections forged and broken:" https://www.famsf.org/stories/writing-american-history-the-poetic-jars-of-david-drake. 

Additionally, the jar that is owned by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco sold at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina on November 21, 2020 for $369,000: https://live.brunkauctions.com/online-auctions/brunk/important-early-dave-drake-attributed-inscription-jar-1989351.

Interestingly, though, the jar that sold at Sotheby's was also accompanied with Dave's slave mortgage (two pieces). This information was further discussed in an article written by Arthur F. Goldberg and James Witkowski for the 2006 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, Beneath his Magic Touch: The Dated Vessels of the African-American Slave Potter Dave: "A mortgage agreement dated June 13, 1818, between Harvey Drake, Abner Landrum, and Eldrid Simkins, mentions “two negroes Slaves Dave a boy about 17 years old Country born and Eliza a girl about 18 or 20 years old both my property and my indisputed possession.” An agreement between Amos Landrum (brother of Abner and John) and Eldrid Simkins, dated October 26, 1818, settled the mortgage debt so that Dave would remain in Drake’s possession. It also identifies Harvey Drake, Abner Landrum, and Amos Landrum as “copartners in the business of a pottery establishment in Pottersville,” confirming Harvey Drake’s importance as a figure in the early development of alkaline-glazed stoneware in the Edgefield District and his association with the Pottersville pottery:" https://www.chipstone.org/article.php/281/Ceramics-in-America-2006/Beneath-his-Magic-Touch:-The-Dated-Vessels-of-the-African-American-Slave-Potter-Dave.

Nevertheless, the June 12, 1834 jar is privately owned today, although it was included in the exhibit, Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina that was recently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/812052. Here are two articles that I posted to this website about both exhibits:

MET Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/12/now-on-display-at-met-in-new-york-city.html

MFA, Boston Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/03/now-on-display-at-mfa-boston-hear-me.html

Note: Dave’s earliest dated verse pot was made exactly one month after his first inscribed pot, dated, “July 12, 1834.” The poetry on this first vessel reads, “Put every bit all between surely this jar will hold 14." This jar is owned today by the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, South Carolina, which owns a number of objects made by Dave: https://scmuseum.org/collections/art/stoneware-jar-olive-dual-lug-handles-and.

I have also posted below information that cites a 70 year old Dave Drake listed in the 1870 United States Federal Census as a "farmer" in Edgefield. This is likely the first time that Drake is named in a Census, seeing that enslaved people were counted in every Census, from 1790 to 1860. However, slaves were never named; they were always listed under their enslaver's name. Free people of color, on the other hand, were treated pretty much like whites in the Census, every year.

Dave's Earliest Dated Inscribed Stoneware Jar from Edgefield, S.C.

19th Century Alkaline Glazed Stoneware Jar Made by Dave Drake in Edgefield, S.C.

Dated June 12, 1834 and Inscribed "Concatination"

This is the Earliest Known of Dave's Dated Work, Which Spans 1834-1864

The Jar Also Retains a Lengthy History of Ownership

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Photo Courtesy: Sotheby's

This was the Jar's History of Ownership When it Sold at Sotheby's in 2005

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Photo Courtesy: Sotheby's

Dave Drake Listed in the 1870 United States Federal Census

He is Listed as a 70 Year Old "Farmer" in Edgefield, South Carolina

This is Likely the First Time that He is Named in a Federal Census

See Article for More Information

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...