Rare 'Dave' alkaline-glazed storage jug Edgefield District, SC circa 1857 three gallon ovoid jug, inscribed: LM, August 25, 1857 Dave, three dots indicating capacity, two slash marks. (Missing handle, 2/3 of lip missing, small hole 1/2" diameter on back side near base of handle, bottom half has scattered splotches of red paint) H 14 1/2" Dia.12" *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.