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The Milwaukee Art Museum has returned two 19th-century stoneware jars by David Drake, an enslaved African-American potter who signed and inscribed his work despite anti-literacy laws, to his descendants under an ownership transfer allowing long-term display. A Virginia museum announced the return of another Drake vessel the same week.
The Milwaukee Art Museum has returned two 19th-century stoneware jars by the African-American ceramicist David Drake to his descendants under an ownership transfer agreement that allows the objects to remain on display long-term. The jars, inscribed by Drake with his name and short original poems at a time when Black literacy was criminalized in the antebellum South, are among the rare surviving works of an artist who made them while enslaved.
The two vessels — a jar dated to roughly c. 1840–50 and another from 1855 — are hefty stoneware pieces that demonstrate the ceramic mastery for which Drake became known. Beyond their technical quality, the jars carry Drake’s inscriptions: his name and brief rhyming couplets that he incised into the clay himself.
The transfer places legal ownership of the works with Drake’s family while establishing terms for their continued, long-term display at the museum. According to a press statement on the return, Yaba Baker, Drake’s fourth great-grandson, framed the agreement as larger than a question of title. “For our family, this agreement is about more than the ownership of these two vessels,” Baker said. “It is about recognizing David Drake as our ancestor whose voice, expertise, and creativity have endured for over 175 years.”
The Milwaukee announcement was followed within the same week by a Virginia museum’s declaration that it would return another vessel attributed to the potter, signaling broader movement among institutions holding Drake’s work.
Why the Return Resonates Beyond Milwaukee
Drake’s jars occupy an unusual position in American art history. Made by an enslaved craftsman, they carry his name and original verses incised at a time when such acts of authorship were dangerous. South Carolina’s Negro Act of 1740 had instituted anti-literacy laws for enslaved and free African Americans, with harsh corporal or even deadly penalties. Drake’s inscriptions were therefore acts of asserted identity as much as decoration, and each signed vessel is a rare document of a literate enslaved artist defying that legal regime.
The Milwaukee transfer also points to a shift in how museums handle works by enslaved makers, whose labor generated value they and their families never received. Returning ownership to descendants — while keeping the works publicly accessible — offers a model that addresses both restitution and continued public access, and the Virginia museum’s subsequent announcement suggests the approach may be gaining traction.
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David Drake and the Edgefield Potteries
: “Colloquially known as Dave the Potter, Drake was born into slavery around 1801 on a plantation in the Carolinas, according to Hyperallergic’s report. Little is known about his early life, but a handful of records show that as a late teen he was brought by Harvey Drake and Abner Landrum to work in their pottery business in Edgefield, South Carolina — the center of ceramic production in the American South during the 19th century.
Drake became a master potter known for throwing particularly large vessels. He also learned to read and write surreptitiously, at great personal risk, since the Negro Act also barred African Americans from earning their own money or traveling. Despite these restrictions, he exercised agency by incising his name into his pottery and composing original rhyming couplets on its surfaces — inscriptions that now make his surviving works both artistic objects and historical evidence.
“For our family, this agreement is about more than the ownership of these two vessels. It is about recognizing David Drake as our ancestor whose voice, expertise, and creativity have endured for over 175 years.”
— Yaba Baker, David Drake’s fourth great-grandson
Questions the Announcement Leaves Open
Several details of the arrangement have not been made public. The specific terms of the long-term display agreement — including its duration, financial components if any, and whether the jars will remain at the Milwaukee Art Museum continuously or travel — have not been disclosed in the available reporting. The identity of the Virginia museum returning another Drake vessel, the vessel involved, and the conditions of that return also remain unspecified beyond the announcement itself.
In addition, how the Drake family intends to manage the works over time, and whether other institutions holding Drake vessels are considering similar ownership transfers, is not yet clear.
Watch for Further Drake Returns
The Virginia museum’s announced return of another “Dave the Potter” vessel is expected to be formalized following this week’s announcement, and its terms may indicate whether the Milwaukee-style arrangement — family ownership paired with long-term public display — becomes a template for other institutions. Drake’s works are held in numerous American museums and private collections, and descendants and scholars have increasingly drawn attention to his authorship in recent years. Further announcements about additional returns or reattributions would not be unexpected, though none beyond the Virginia case has been confirmed.
Key Questions
Who was David Drake?
David Drake, also known as Dave the Potter, was an African-American ceramicist born into slavery around 1801. He worked in the pottery business of Edgefield, South Carolina, becoming a master potter known for large stoneware vessels that he signed and inscribed with original rhyming couplets, despite laws criminalizing Black literacy.
What exactly did the Milwaukee Art Museum return?
The museum transferred ownership of two jars — one dated c. 1840–50 and one from 1855 — to Drake’s descendants, under an agreement that permits the vessels to be displayed long-term.
Will the jars still be visible to the public?
Yes, according to the ownership transfer agreement, which allows the objects to be displayed long-term. The precise duration and conditions of the display arrangement have not been disclosed.
Why are Drake’s inscriptions historically unusual?
Drake wrote his name and short poems on his jars at a time when South Carolina’s Negro Act of 1740 criminalized literacy among enslaved and free African Americans, with penalties that could be corporal or deadly. His signed, inscribed vessels are rare acts of documented authorship by an enslaved artist.
Are other museums returning Drake’s works?
A Virginia museum announced the return of another Drake vessel in the same week as the Milwaukee announcement. The identity of that museum and the terms of its return have not been detailed in the available reporting.
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