Crocker Farm Stoneware & Redware Auction
Bidding by Internet, Phone & Mail
July 23 – August 6
15900 York Rd
Sparks, MD 21152
410-472-2016
www.crockerfarm.com
info@crockerfarm.com

SPARKS, MD. — Crocker Farm’s summer auction of American stoneware and redware pottery, July 23-August 6, will be selling a highly important work by the enslaved African American potter David Drake. Potted in a monumental 25-gallon capacity and an extremely rare four-handled form, the jar is also one of fewer than 35 David Drake vessels known to feature an incised poem.

The object comes from the collection of noted Southern folk historian Dr John B. Burrison, who had placed it on loan to the Atlanta History Center’s Goizeuta Folk Life Gallery since 1981. Mark Zipp, partner at Crocker Farm, noted, “The Burrison four-handled jar has everything one looks for in Dave’s best work: a poem, rare size, exceptional form and a dynamic glaze. It commands attention.”

Growing institutional and collector interest in African American art has energized the market for David Drake pieces. Zipp commented, “David Drake’s skill as a potter is undeniable. He was prolific and produced stoneware larger in scale than any other known potters in the region. However, his story is what sets him apart.”

Born into slavery in 1801, Drake learned the potter’s trade at an early age, working as an enslaved craftsman at several stoneware manufactories in the Edgefield District of South Carolina for more than 50 years. He also learned to read and write, although it was discouraged or even illegal for a slave to do so during the time period. A number of his works survive, defiantly bearing the name “Dave,” along with a date and the initials, “Lm,” referring to one of his owners, Lewis Miles — all incised with a stylus along the shoulders of his pots.

Even more intriguing are Dave’s poem vessels, his rarest and most celebrated works, which typically feature rhyming couplets discussing a variety of themes from romance to religion to plantation life. “There is no clear answer as to why Dave was allowed to inscribe his wares,” Zipp continued. “His signatures and inscriptions have allowed scholars to document an enslaved craftsman and his body of work, while also understanding something about who the artist was personally. He was a remarkable figure from both artistic and historical standpoints.”

The Burrison jar bears the incised inscription, “Lm . April 12 . 1858 / Dave,” as well as the poem, “A very Large Jar which has 4 handles / pack it full of fresh meats- then light candles.” As with some other David Drake poems, the artist comments on the jar’s form, substantial size and purpose. The four-handled shape, seen in only four other signed Dave jars, was designed to allow multiple people to carry the cumbersome object. With this poem, as noted in Leonard Todd’s Carolina Clay: The Life and Legend of the Slave Potter Dave, he may be referencing the use of candle wax in sealing pottery for the preservation of meats.

Estimated at $300/600,000, the jar is considered one of the greatest examples of American ceramic art ever to cross the auction block. Regarding its potential at auction, Zipp noted, “The sale of this work is relatively uncharted territory. No Dave pieces of this quality have been seen at auction since the Georgeanna Greer collection was sold in the early 1990s. We’re looking forward to seeing what the market bears.” Crocker Farm’s summer auction will run online from July 23 to August 6 with a callback period for top bidders on August 7. For information, 410-472-2016 or www.crockerfarm.com.

Featuring an Imposing Twenty-Five Gallon Capacity and Exceedingly Rare Four-Handled Form, This Jar Ranks Among David Drake’s Greatest Known Works as well as One of the Finest American Ceramic Objects Ever to Come to Auction.

Twenty-Five-Gallon Four-Handled Stoneware Jar with Poem, inscribed “A very large jar which has 4 handles= / pack it full of fresh meats- then light candles-,” Signed “Lm. April 12 . 1858. / Dave,” David Drake at Lewis Miles’ Stoney Bluff Manufactory, Edgefield District, SC, 1858. Twenty-Five Slash Marks are incised at the shoulder.
Provenance: The Collection of Noted Historian and Author, Dr. John Burrison, Atlanta, GA. H 24 1/4”.