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Contribution #325 of 365
David “Dave” Drake
Master Potter and Inscribed Stoneware Craftsman
1830s–1860s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born enslaved in South Carolina around 1800, David “Dave” Drake became a master potter in Edgefield District's large-scale stoneware industry. He produced exceptionally large utilitarian vessels requiring advanced technical skill and signed, dated and sometimes inscribed them with original verse despite restrictions on enslaved literacy. His identifiable body of work preserves Black craftsmanship, manufacturing skill and authorship under slavery.