Edgefield District stoneware jar, by Dave dated June 12, 1852 ovoid form with outturned rim, inscribed: LM June 2, 1852, and D [Dave]. (Broken rim and handle; most of Dave's signature is missing) H16" *Note: David Drake was an African-American born into slavery in South Carolina around 1780. He worked at his master's newspaper The Pottersville Hive as a typesetter before becoming a potter. While owned by Lewis Miles at Stoney Bluff Plantation in Edgefield, Dave became a master craftsman able to produce some of the largest one-man pots ever made. During a time when literacy among slaves was outlawed in the South, Dave defiantly signed and dated many of his pieces, and in some instances inscribed rhymed verses/poems. During his lifetime Dave was bought, sold and traded between five different families. He died three years after being freed in 1863.