or plantations near where
the industry was located; like Edgeville,
S.C., and not necessarily in
urban areas. In Pottersville, Drake
was not the only slave turning pots,
76 others worked in the industry,
but he was the only one to mark his
pots.
By making excellent pots, he found
a way to survive, even when he lost
a leg in 1835. is made him ineligible
for eld work but it made it
impossible to turn the pottery wheel
with his feet; that’s when Henry
(cited often but not veried as to
his name) came into Drake’s work.
His arms were damaged but he had
strong legs. e two men became
a team – one with legs to turn the
pottery wheel, the other with arms
strong enough to make super-sized
pots.
e area had an abundant supply
of red clay and kaolin deposits. e
pots were covered with a Chinese
glaze to create water-proof alkaline
glazed stoneware to store
meats, hold liquids, and preserve
&Awith the Curator:
Clare Wolfe
O s a tea curatoral eneaor
y ason resents eresa ralette eees
an Clare olfe eees hols a octorate n
art hstory an s a workng artst olfe has
worke as an etor an eucator an now
artners wth creates an akers ostonng
ther work n the coercal arketlace
ere olfe answers uestons aout the
O eht at the asonorgan
Cultural Center on slay through uly
Q: Tell us how EARTH BOUND came to be.
A: We felt there is a specific source of joy
in this show that we have been missing – as
individualsand within community. It’s been a
tough two years for all of us in very different
ways, but tough is tough. COID forced us
to stay in, stay local, and slow down. We
felt it was an opportunity to look within our
community, our resources here — artistic and
otherwise — that may have been overlooked in
busier times. MMCC is such an amaing space
— it has so much to offer within its doors. We
were poking around there one day and came
upon the Drake jar, seemingly hidden deep in
the corner of the Piedmont History section. We
thought, we have got to do something with this
astonishing piece of art!
Q: Why is the jar signicant?
A: or many reasons. irst of all, it’s beautiful.
A handmade piece of pottery on such a scale
— it’s very large. It’s also quite valuable. It’s
hard to wrap your head around this but a
lot of these jars were being used as planters
or umbrella stands for years and now, well,
last year the Metropolitan Museum of Art
paid more than a million dollars for a Drake
jar almost identical to ours. Now that price
is probably a one-time event because two
museums were in a bidding war for one jar. But
Drake’s jars have been desired since the 17s
and have been increasingly valuable for the last
years.
Q: And MMCC owns one?
A: es, it’s been in the permanent collection for
some time. And now with four other Drake jars
from the private collections of four Madison
community members, we get a chance to know
more about his life, and the significant cultural
and political aspects of them.
ccorng to the atonal useu of ercan story thsonan
nsttuton n a state that outlawe lteracy aong eole who were en
slae ae efiantly roclae hs alty to rea an wrte y sgnng
hs nae an soetes nscrng oetry on the stoneware essels he
ae rake s the only enslae otter known to hae sgne an ate
hs work out surng eces are nscre wth aes orgnal two
lne oes he oes reect aes ntellgence creatty an wt
Photos courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
SUMMER 2022 | LAKE OCONEE LIVING 49