Nineteenth-century stoneware by enslaved and free potters living in
Edgefield, South Carolina, highlights the central role of Black artists
in the region's long-standing pottery traditions
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.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale
University Press
Exhibition Schedule:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(September 9, 2022-February 5, 2023)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(March 6-July 9, 2023)
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor
(August 26, 2023-January 7, 2024)
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
(February 16-May 12, 2024)
