David Drake's Descendants Demand Pot's Return From Philadelphia Museum

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The descendants of David Drake, an enslaved potter also known as Dave the Potter, are requesting that the Philadelphia Museum of Art return an 83-pound alkaline-glazed stoneware jar crafted by him in 1859. The jar is currently featured in the museum's“A Nation of Artists” exhibition, which spans three centuries of American art.

The museum has highlighted the monumental pot as a significant piece within the exhibition, displaying it in a section called“Prosper, Abundance, and Inequity.” This area is designed to evoke an antebellum living room, incorporating upholstered chairs, oil paintings, and decorative wallpaper. Its inclusion acknowledges the contributions of enslaved individuals to the wealth of slave-holding families and their descendants, while also recognizing their work as integral to American art.

Yaba Baker, Drake's fourth great-grandson and executive director of the Dave the Potter Legacy Trust, stated the family's desire for ownership.“We want to own the pieces free and clear,” Baker told the Philadelphia Inquirer. He added that the trust's goal is to then lend the works to public venues, ensuring Dave's story is shared with future generations.

The trust, which was established to repatriate Drake's works to his family, is collaborating with George Fatheree III, a Los Angeles-based real estate attorney and social justice advocate. Fatheree has previously facilitated the return of several of Drake's pots. Last month, the Milwaukee Art Museum announced it would transfer ownership of two stoneware jars by Drake to his descendants as part of an agreement with the Dave the Potter Legacy Trust.

According to the Inquirer, Fatheree has been in communication with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but he characterized these interactions to date as“a few conversations that I would characterize as cordial in tone, but noncommittal.”

Source: Artforum

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