A stoneware storage jar created by an enslaved potter at the Stony Bluff Manufactory in Old Edgefield, South Carolina, in 1858 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Text has been inscribed on two sides:
“this jar is to Mr Segler who keeps the bar in orangeburg / for Mr Edwards a Gentle man — who formly kept / Mr thos bacons horses / April 21 1858”
(on opposite shoulder) “when you fill this Jar with pork or beef / Scot will be there; to get a peace, - / Dave” [and 25 slashes (representing gallonage)]
Discussion Questions
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes this piece as “monumental” and “a masterwork” and comments that it “reveals [David Drake’s] unmatched technical facility and command of language.” In what ways does this piece challenge mid-nineteenth-century views of slavery and the enslaved?
- What is the significance of David Drake’s decision to sign his work?
- What aspects of this artifact make it practical and useful? What aspects of this artifact are artistic?