The pottery of David Drake is exhibited in most major fine art museums across the country and a piece recently appeared in Ocala for a brief time.
Part of working at a museum involves assessing donations and deciding if they are a good fit or better suited for another institution. One never knows what will arrive. Sometimes it’s “treasure,” and other times it is not. An incredibly unique object with a fascinating story of enslavement, resistance and freedom was recently brought to light right here in Marion County.
Last November, a local family with antiques to donate contacted the Silver River Museum & Environmental Education Center. Digital photos of old butter churns and crosscut saws confirmed the items could be used as props in the old pioneer cabins we have here at Silver Springs State Park. An older gentleman who lamented that his younger relatives were not interested in history arrived to deliver his heirlooms.
Everything seemed normal, with the exception of one stoneware crock. It was odd, like no other I’d seen, and I’ve assessed many over the years. Terracotta in color, it looked like an old pot one would use for a patio plant. The shape is best described as a widemouthed jar. It is large, with a capacity of six gallons. There is a bird of some sort and the words “Eagle Toed Owl” etched (in cursive) into the clay. This was a mysterious oddity, to say the least.
Images of the old jar were sent to Tony Zipp of Crocker Farm Auctions in Maryland, who specializes in American folk pottery. Zipp called me within minutes. The vessel “likely dated to the 1830s and was very rare.” Zipp claimed it could be worth tens of thousands of dollars. A true Antiques Roadshow moment had come to Ocala. The gentleman who donated the objects was contacted and since neither of us had any idea how significant the piece was when it was delivered, the decision was made to return it to the family.
The jar would have been used to store food and was almost 200 years old. The handwriting style, shape of the vessel, glaze and firing technique confirmed it was made near Edgefield, South Carolina, by an enslaved man named Dave Drake, arguably the most famous folk potter in the United States. Pottery attributed to Drake is highly sought after by art museums and collectors alike. By April, the piece had sold at auction for $72,000 to a private collector.
Drake, the long-deceased historic potter from South Carolina, holds the record of $1.56 million for the highest sales price paid for American folk pottery. While the dollar amounts are impressive, the story of Drake is even more fascinating. He was an African American potter born into slavery, who not only threw beautifully made stoneware vessels but often signed and dated his work. Many even have inscribed poems and verses on the rim like the words “Eagle Toed Owl” found on the pot brought to the Silver River Museum.
Prior to the development of refrigeration and modern food preservation, few options existed to keep food from spoiling. Stoneware crocks were made to store dried and salted meats, fermented (pickled) foods and liquids like wine and vinegar. These ceramics were made for daily use and could be found in most every kitchen. Factories producing pottery were common in areas with good clay. Both free and enslaved potters turned out affordable and durable vessels for sale. Before glass Mason jars and plastic containers, stoneware production was a necessary and major industry.
The area around Edgefield, South Carolina, is known for historic ceramics. The region is rich in clays that are perfect for pottery manufacture. Factories known as “potteries” were common in this area from about 1810 into recent times. Local clay was dug and turned into utilitarian vessels that were coated in alkaline glazes (made with wood ash, feldspar, clay and water). Pots were fired in wood-fired kilns and then sent to market. The kilns were often semi-subterranean and dug into the ground to retain heat, a trait resulting in the term “groundhog kiln.”
Drake was one of the countless enslaved potters of Edgefield. Census data, family documents and records of slave sales indicate he was born about 1800 and lived until at least 1870. He appears in the census records of 1870 but is absent by 1880. The last date appearing on a pot he made is 1864. It is well-documented that Drake was enslaved by several owners during his life. Prior to emancipation, he would have simply been known as Dave. Once freed at the end of the Civil War, he took the surname of his final owner Harvey Drake. Dave Drake lived out his final years as a free man.
The fact that Drake was literate is very unusual. After an uprising of enslaved people in 1830, most slave states passed laws making it illegal to teach slaves to read or write. An early owner of Drake’s ran a print shop, and he likely became literate there prior to 1830, perhaps so he could set up printing presses with text. He soon learned to turn pottery and was known for creating large containers, some with a capacity of up to 25 gallons.
Why he was allowed to sign and date his pottery remains a mystery. Even more incredible are the short poems and verses he inscribed onto some of his vessels. Notable examples include:
(8/26/1840) “Another trick is worst than this—dearest miss—spare me a kiss”
(4/12/1858) “A very large jar—which has four handles—pack it full of fresh meats—then light—candles”
(5/3/1862) “I made this jar—all of cross—if you don’t repent—you will be lost”
Denied his freedom most of his life, Drake managed to claim his identify as a man and find an outlet for his creativity through clay. He was essentially saying, “I am Dave the potter and this is my art.” This was enslavement, resistance and creativity combined into a stoneware jar. In the world of American art, Drake’s work stands alone and is a testament to a life lived that would have otherwise been unknown.
Pottery created by Dave Drake is exhibited in most major fine art museums across the country, including both the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, to name just a few.
Excellent books documenting his work include Great and Noble Jar: Traditional Stoneware of South Carolina, published by the McKissick Foundation and University of Georgia Press (1993) and The Words and Wares of David Drake, published by the University of South Carolina (2023). OS
Scott Mitchell is a field archaeologist, scientific illustrator and director of the Silver River Museum & Environmental Education Center at 1445 NE 58th Avenue, inside the Silver River State Park. Museum hours are 10am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday. To learn more, go to silverrivermuseum.com
