"Recentering the development of industrially scaled Southern pottery traditions around enslaved and free Black potters working in the mid-nineteenth century, this catalogue presents groundbreaking scholarship and new perspectives on stoneware made in and around Edgefield, South Carolina. Among the remarkable works included are a selection of regional face vessels as well as masterpieces by enslaved potter and poet David Drake, who signed, dated, and incised verses on many of his jars, even though literacy among enslaved people was criminalized at the time. Essays on the production, collection, dispersal, and reception of stoneware from Edgefield offer a critical look at what it means to collect, exhibit, and interpret objects made by enslaved artisans. Several featured contemporary works inspired by or related to Edgefield stoneware attest to the cultural and historical significance of this body of work, and an interview with acclaimed contemporary artist Simone Leigh illuminates its continued relevance. Adrienne Spinozzi is Associate Curator in the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York." -- Publishers descriptionThis in-depth look at the remarkable alkaline-glazed stoneware from Edgefield, South Carolina, recenters the development of Southern pottery traditions around enslaved and free Black potters working in the mid-nineteenth century. The publication brings together more than 60 rarely seen works, including figural face jugs and slip-decorated pottery by known and unknown makers. Among the most remarkable works featured are masterpieces by David Drake, known as "Dave the Potter," who signed, dated, and incised verses on many of his jars, even though literacy among enslaved people was criminalized at the time.

In addition to surfacing new scholarship on the production, collection, dispersal, and cultural significance of stoneware works from Edgefield, this publication also offers a critical examination of what it means to collect, exhibit, and interpret objects made by enslaved artisans. An interview with contemporary artist Simone Leigh, the US representative for the 2022 Venice Biennale, connects Edgefield vessels to present-day conversations about sculpture, identity, and visibility. Exhibition: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (09.09.2022-05.02.2023).