The Words and Wares of David Drake

A celebration of the remarkable poem vessels of Dave the Potter

David Drake, who often signed his work simply as "Dave," was an enslaved potter who lived and worked in Edgefield District, South Carolina. Despite laws prohibiting enslaved people from learning to read or write, Drake was literate and signed some of his pots. His practice was not only to add his name and a date but also to embellish his work with commentary or verse—a powerful statement of resistance.

The Words and Wares of David Drake collects multifaceted scholarship about David and his craft. Building on the 1998 national traveling exhibit catalog, I Made This Jar: The Life and Works of Enslaved African-American Potter, Dave, and featuring more than one hundred beautiful images and six new essays, this authoritative volume presents the diverse perspectives of scholars, artists, and collectors.

The Words and Wares of David Drake adds important depth and context to our understanding of both Edgefield pottery and Drake's life.

David's work was the cornerstone of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's traveling exhibit of nineteenth-century ceramic art from Edgefield.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (September 8, 2022–February 5, 2023)
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (March 6, 2023–July 9, 2023)
• University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (August 26, 2023–January 7, 2024)
• High Museum of Art, Atlanta (February 16, 2024–May 12, 2024)