Exceedingly Rare and Important Open-Handled Stoneware Jar with Alkaline Glazed, Inscribed "Lm / Jan 12 1864 / Dave," David Drake at Lewis Miles's Stony Bluff Manufactory, Edgefield District, SC, 1864, ovoid jar with tooled shoulder, two applied vertical-strap handles, and narrow mouth with tooled rim, the surface covered in a dark-brown alkaline glaze with subtle olive tones and runs. Front deeply-incised with the large script inscription, "Lm / Jan 12 1864 / Dave." This jar is distinguished as one of Drake's final documented inscribed vessels. Only two examples are dated later, two jars made in March of 1864. The jar's handle construction is extremely rare. Exhibiting classic Drake craftsmanship in their thin strap forms with depressed lower terminals, such handles are typically seen on the numerous jugs he produced over the decades, but essentially unknown in the potter's jars. Also remarkable is the jar's narrow-mouthed form, suggesting this vessel may have been made for a specific use, or that Drake was expanding beyond utilitarian forms to produce something akin to a vase. Drake's fingerprint impressions are visible at the base, created when the jar was removed from the wheel. Additional potter's fingerprints are visible at the base, created during the glazing process. Born circa 1800, David Drake made this vessel around his sixty-fourth year of life. While he is listed in the U.S. Federal Census of South Carolina as a "turner," still potting at age seventy, his omission from the 1880 census indicates he was deceased by that time. Combining exceptional form and an extremely rare date, only a year and two months before the end of the Civil War, this work serves as a rare window into Drake's final year as an enslaved, aging potter, made shortly before his emancipation. (Dave had been technically freed by presidential fiat about a year prior when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.) In her notes, Wahler writes the following about this jar: "At the time I bought this everyone in the know thought that he died in 1863. Jill Koverman from the McKissick was very excited to learn about this jar when she was planning their Dave exhibit. She came and photographed it and another jug we attribute to Dave. . . They wanted this Dave and I believe the other one also for their exhibit. However, as it was going to be a traveling exhibit I declined. It is mentioned in her catalog and they later found another 1864 which is the typical Dave form. Ours is the only one of this form that I am familiar with to date." Restored flaking to underside, not visible on interior. A professionally-restored 2 3/4" x 1" section to rim. A professionally-restored 1 7/8" x 1" section to rim. Minor chipping to base. H 12 3/4".
