Images(12)

Storage Jar

Date1849 (dated)

Maker David Drake (ca. 1801 - ca. 1875)

OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Edgefield

MediumAsh-glazed stoneware

DimensionsOH: 16 1/2"; OD: 12 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2016.900.2

DescriptionAsh-glazed stoneware five gallon ovoid shaped storage jar with broad flat base, pronounced everted rim, and two lug handles on either side of the pot. Inscribed on the shoulder of the vessel on one side "Mr. Miles Dave II" and on the reverse in the same location impressed with five punctate marks preceding "October 15: 1849."
Label TextDavid Drake, an enslaved African-American potter, created ash-glazed stoneware vessels distinguished by their massive size and, in some instances, their inscribed verses. This storage is signed “Mr. Miles Dave” and “October 15, 1849.” Dave worked for various owners in the Edgefield district of South Carolina including Lewis J. Miles, owner of the Stoney Bluff plantation where this jar was made. A distinctive feature of this jar, exhibited on many of David Drake’s vessels, are five incised punctates which indicate its five-gallon capacity. David Drake is one of the only enslaved potters known to have signed and dated his wares, an action that was particularly risky given that South Carolina outlawed literacy among slaves during this time.
InscribedSigned on shoulder on one side "Mr. Miles Dave II" and dated "October 15 1849" on opposite. Five punctate marks precede the "October 15 1849"

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