Alkaline-glazed stoneware jar

This stoneware jar was made in 1862 by David Drake, a master potter who turned wares as a slave for Lewis Miles’s Pottery, Edgefield District, South Carolina. Drake is commonly referred to as "Dave the Potter." Taught by a former owner to read and write, he signed many of his pieces, which today are valued highly among collectors. In addition, he inscribed original two-line poems—about love, money, his work, and spirituality—on some of his jars and jugs, implicitly challenging the laws of South Carolina against educating slaves. This jar contains the verse “I made this jar all of cross If you dont repent, you will be lost” and is inscribed “May 3 1862 LM Dave”.

Division of Social History, Ceramics and Glass National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Behring Center