Twenty-Five Gallon Four-Handled Stoneware Jar
Twenty-Five Gallon Four-Handled Stoneware Jar
Artist
Dave (later recorded as David Drake)
(1801 - ca. 1870s)
Date1858
MediumStoneware with alkaline glaze
Dimensions24 1/2 × 24 1/4 × 24 1/4 in. (62.2 × 61.6 × 61.6 cm)
82 lb. (37.2 kg)
82 lb. (37.2 kg)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2021.29
Signedbelow handle: L.m. April 12. 1858 / Dave
Accession number
2021.29
On View
On viewCollections
Label Text“A very Large Jar which has 4 handles
pack it full of fresh meats then light candles.”
David Drake was a highly skilled potter and poet. Twenty-Five Gallon Four Handled Stoneware Jar is remarkable for both its scale and beautiful poem incised across the surface. Drake’s poem reveals the history of the jar as a tool in meat production but is especially significant because it was illegal for him, a man born into slavery in South Carolina, to read and write during his lifetime.
“Un jarrón muy grande que tiene 4 asas
para llenar de carne fresca y luego encender velas”.
David Drake fue un ceramista hábil y poeta. El Jarrón de cerámica con cuatro asas de veinticinco galones es extraordinario, tanto por la escala del objeto como por el bello poema grabado sobre la superficie. Su poema revela la historia del jarrón como una herramienta en la producción de carne, pero es especialmente importante porque para él, un hombre esclavo en Carolina del Sur, leer y escribir era ilegal en su época.
Inscribedbelow handles: A very Large Jar which has 4 handles / pack it full of fresh meats then light candles -
