Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Jar with Two Slash Marks att. Slave Potter Dave Drake, Edgefield, SC

March 14, 2015 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 447

Price Realized: $517.50

($450 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 9 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.

March 14, 2015 Auction Catalog

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Three-Gallon Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Jar with Slash Marks, attributed to Dave the Slave, Lewis Miles' Stoney Bluff Manufactory, Edgefield, SC, circa 1840, ovoid jar with semi-rounded rim and thin applied tab handles, the surface covered in a pale-greenish alkaline glaze with light orange spotting throughout. Shoulder incised with two vertical slashes, a distinctive mark used by the enslaved African-American potter, Dave. The jar's fine, thin-walled construction and light-colored glaze indicate it is one of the potter's earlier works. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example from a Southeastern Virginia collection amassed decades ago. One handle missing. Two large losses and a long shallow chip to rim. Flakes around shoulder and on underside. Two vertical cracks extending partway up sides of jar from base. A horizontal crack at base. Two other above cracks continue several inches onto underside.