Page 25 - joa 2-2020

learned stoneware by this age, he was certainly a skilled individual by Mrs. Carey Dickson described him to Bragg. “It was at that time he
the time Drake died in 1832, being valued at a relatively high price of belonged to old man Drake, and it was at that time he got his leg cut
$400 in the estate. Dave’s workmanship notwithstanding, perhaps off. They say he got drunk and laid on the railroad track." The other
most noteworthy for his time and place was his proclivity for signing, source, Mrs. Fletcher, who at the time was living in Lesslie, S.C.,
dating and, on at least thirty known occasions, inscribing poetic verse further noted to Bragg that she remembered Dave as being “mighty
on his finished wares. Verse that, as far as the law was concerned, never good” at turning pots, despite his having but one leg.
should have been put there in the first place. [figure 4] Now, it’s questionable at best as to when exactly Dave lost his leg.
South Carolina laws against educating slaves had been on the books Dickson’s quote puts it somewhere before 1832, yet other notations in
since 1740 and were as solid as ever at the time of Dave’s birth. These Bragg’s papers suggest the troubling event might have occurred much
same laws were only exacerbated after a well-planned slave revolt in later. Whatever the case, the fact that Dave was able to continue
1822 was unsuccessful. Fearful, the General Assembly enacted even making pottery with only one leg to drive his treadle is, in a word,
more unforgiving literacy codes, adding a strict penalty remarkable. There were, however, some occasions where
for anyone teaching “slave or free colored children to Dave had help. When Dave fell under the ownership of
read or write.” Abner Landrum’s brother, John, for example, he was
It is difficult to positively identify how, when, or paired with a fellow enslaved worker named Henry, who
exactly where Dave learned to read or write. had lost the use of at least one arm. Henry, of course,
Moreover, since he marked his works again and still had two good legs to treadle the wheel while Dave
again in the face of oppressive laws against such a put his hands to the clay. Later, while enslaved at
thing, how did he get away with it? Theories Stoney Bluff in the 1850s, Dave, working together
abound on both. In becoming literate, one with another potter, Baddler, was put to work making
hypothesis suggests that Harvey Drake taught large meat storage jars including the aforementioned
him. A “profoundly religious man,” Drake could 40-gallon piece, which Dave signed for both Baddler
have felt the need to give Dave access to the bible, and himself.
something a few denominations had advocated in Clearly, Baddler was a good match for Dave. After
spite of the law. Another theory is that he was put to all, his name appears alongside Dave’s on more than this
work as a typesetter for the local newspaper, the one pot. In fact, another mammoth 40-gallon storage jar
Edgefield Hive, owned by Abner Landrum. It’s also arrived at The Charleston Museum in 1920, not quite a
possible that Lewis Miles, one of his subsequent year after the first one. Just like the other, it was signed
owners, permitted Dave’s writings so that he could “Dave and Baddler” and, in Dave’s unmistakable
better personalize products for commercial buyers. penmanship, included the verse, “Great and Noble jar
One surviving example of this customization is a storage Figure 5: Storage jar inscribed by hold sheep goat or bear.” Amazingly, a quick
jar unsigned by Dave but inscribed by him for Dave for Panzerbieter’s Grocers, comparison of the two pieces together reveals that both
“King and Columbus Ste,
Charleston’s Panzerbieter Grocery Store. [figure 5] Charleston, S.C.” vessels are dated the same, May 13, 1859. Thus, if Dave
Whatever his reasons and allowances, Dave’s is to be believed (and there is no reason not to), he and
poignant, whimsical, even romantic inscriptions create an almost Baddler created these two massive works on the same day. To date, they
personal connection to him. “His works … touch that part acutely are the largest Dave pieces known. [figure 7]
attuned to the daily life of the rural community and the rhythm of
routines, which require an innate sense of timing,” wrote Charleston
artist Jonathan Green in 1998. “His hands on the clay and his Post-Civil War Pottery
foot on the treadle using his unique creative energy and personality to
breathe life and history into what would otherwise be simply Like many enterprises in the American South, the Civil War greatly
utilitarian objects.” disrupted Edgefield’s pottery industry. Of the numerous potteries
scattered about the Edgefield district in 1860, only two were
operational in 1870. The wider availability
Gathering Elusive Information of glass and metal containers didn’t help
things either. By the mid-1880s, however,
Laura Bragg was likely feeling much the
same way in the 1930s whilst gathering new generations of old potters were reviving
Edgefield’s antebellum success, exhibiting
whatever data she could in pursuit of Dave’s the same durability and resolve of the stone-
elusive story and those of other Edgefield ware they produced. Landrum descendent
potters. Indeed, his remarkable messages Benjamin Franklin Landrum, for instance,
present him as a creative and thoughtful man.
by 1880 was producing upwards of $5,000
He makes known his wit in 1836: Horses, worth of stoneware goods. Meanwhile, his
mules and hogs / all our cows is in the bogs / Figure 6: Detail of storage jar signed “Dave / 31 July, 1840,” cousin John Miles (son of Lewis Miles,
there they shall ever stay / till the buzzards take and inscribed, “Dave belongs to Mr. Miles, owner of Stoney Bluff), was operating
them away wher the oven bakes and the pot biles” “Miles Mill and Pottery,” which boasted a
“thirty-five-horsepower water turbine.” As
His business sense in 1858: This noble for the dozens of unrecognized, emancipated
jar will hold 20 / fill it with silver then you’ll potters, some understandably moved on.
have plenty
Others, Dave included, entered into wage-
His piety in 1862: I made this jar all of paying contracts with their former masters.
cross / If you don’t repent, you will be lost Finally a free man, Dave formalized his first
name to David and adopted the surname of
And, regrettably, his lot in life in 1840: his first owner, Drake.
Dave belongs to Mr. Miles, wher the oven An 1870 federal census listed David
bakes & the pot biles [figure 6] Figure 7: Detail of storage jar signed “Dave & Baddler / May Drake, age 70, as a turner still making
13, 1859” on one side and inscribed on the other, “Great and pottery near Edgefield. Alas, it was the last
As Bragg continued her research into the Noble Jar / hold Sheep goat or bear” time he was ever recorded. Cohabitating
1930s, it was through a pair of interviews with one Mark Jones, also listed as a “turner,
that uncovered an interesting, if not dramatic, detail of Dave’s life. On age 35,” it’s possible that Dave spent the last few years of his life
both occasions, she was told of a rather unfortunate accident that Dave teaching a fellow potter to carry on his legacy.
endured during the course of his career. “Sure I knew Dave,” was how
All images courtesy of The Charleston Museum

February 2020 23