Dave (later recorded as David Drake) (artist)

Nationality
American
Birth/Death
circa 1801–1870s

About

The potter and poet known as Dave (David Drake) was one of thousands of enslaved artisans whose work was stolen by merchant enslavers before and during the Civil War. Dave was a skilled potter who made finely crafted ceramic storage jars and jugs. In the mid 1800s, he worked in pottery studios in South Carolina’s Edgefield region. At that time it was illegal there, and in many other states, for enslaved people to read and write. Dave expressed his resistance to the system of slavery by inscribing Bible verses, short poems, and his name on his handmade pottery. He was the earliest-known enslaved potter to inscribe his work. Dave created thousands of ceramic pottery pieces. Each jar and jug he crafted featured his name or a unique verse. Only 270 of his original pottery pieces still exist.

From Wikipedia

source content
David Drake (c. 1800 – c. 1870s), also known as "Dave Pottery" and "Dave the Potter", was an American potter who lived in Edgefield, South Carolina. An enslaved African American, Drake spent most of his life working for his masters, but became free at the end of the American Civil War. He is thought to have died in the 1870s. Drake produced alkaline-glazed stoneware jugs between the 1820s and the 1870s. He often signed his works "Dave", and he is recognized as the first enslaved potter to inscribe his work. Drake inscribed his work with poetry, often using rhyming couplets, as well as his signature. During the time in which he was working, most enslaved people were illiterate, often as a result of anti-literacy laws, making his inscriptions particularly notable.

Artwork by Dave (later recorded as David Drake)