Milwaukee Art Museum Returns Two David Drake Jars to Descendants
The Milwaukee Art Museum has transferred ownership of two 19th-century stoneware vessels by David Drake to his descendants, with an agreement allowing long-term display. A Virginia museum this week announced the return of another "Dave the Potter" vessel.
An Ownership Transfer
The Milwaukee Art Museum has returned two 19th-century stoneware vessels made by Dave (David) Drake to the descendants of the African-American ceramicist. The transfer was made under an ownership agreement that permits the objects to be displayed long-term. The Wisconsin museum's move was followed this week by a Virginia museum's announcement that it would return another "Dave the Potter" vessel.
Who David Drake Was
Drake was born into slavery around 1801 on a plantation in the Carolinas. Records show that as a late teen, Harvey Drake and Abner Landrum brought him to work in their pottery business in Edgefield, South Carolina, then the epicenter of ceramic production in the American South. He became a master potter known for throwing particularly large works. He also learned to read and write at great risk: South Carolina had instituted anti-literacy laws for enslaved and free African Americans through the Negro Act of 1740. That act also forbade African Americans from earning their own money or moving abroad, with harsh corporal or even deadly penalties.
Inscribed Evidence
Drake exercised his agency by incising his name into his pottery and by authoring original rhyming couplets. The two hefty jars returned by Milwaukee are examples of his ceramic mastery, and they carry his name and brief poems — acts of authorship made when Black literacy was criminalized in the antebellum South.
The returned vessels are inscribed with Drake's name and original verses, marking his authorship in a period when Black literacy was criminalized in the antebellum South.
Family Response
"For our family, this agreement is about more than the ownership of these two vessels," said Yaba Baker, Drake's fourth great-grandson, in a press statement on the return. "It is about recognizing David Drake as our ancestor whose voice, expertise, and creativity have endured for over 175 years." Baker's statement frames the transfer as an act of recognition rather than a simple change of title.
Two Museums, One Week
The Milwaukee Art Museum's ownership transfer was followed up by a Virginia museum's announcement of the return of another "Dave the Potter" vessel this week. The near-simultaneous moves place two institutional returns of Drake's work within days of each other, though the Virginia museum is not named in the source material.
The Agreement's Terms
The Milwaukee arrangement includes an ownership transfer agreement that allows the objects to be displayed long-term. The two jars remain available for museum display under terms accepted by the descendants.
Broader Context
Edgefield, South Carolina, was the epicenter of ceramic production in the American South during the 19th century, and Drake's large-format stoneware and inscribed verses have made his work a subject of continuing institutional attention. The Milwaukee return concerns two vessels; the Virginia announcement concerns another single vessel. Both follow a growing pattern of cultural repatriation involving works by enslaved makers.
