Georgia Museum of Art sets new precedent for restitution to enslaved artist’s heirs

An agreement with the family of potter and ceramic artist David Drake gives them a central role in decisions about his work.

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The Georgia Museum of Art and the descendants of enslaved 19th-century potter and ceramic artist David Drake have reached a landmark agreement recognizing Drake’s descendants as his beneficiaries and giving them a central role in decisions about stewarding his work, the museum announced July 22.

The agreement includes the transfer of ownership of a 19th-century, 4-gallon ceramic jar from the museum’s collection to the artist’s descendants. The museum subsequently purchased the jar back from the family. Separately, the family has loaned another 19th-century David Drake ceramic jar to the museum, where it will return to public display this fall. The arrangement represents a rare instance in which ownership of a work by an enslaved artist has been transferred to the artist’s descendants before the museum reacquired it, while another of Drake’s works has been loaned by the family for exhibition.

“Just imagine how it would feel if your ancestor created artwork of incredible value, but neither he nor his family were ever allowed to benefit from the work,” said Yaba Baker, fourth-great-grandson of Drake. “My family and I are so pleased to have worked with the Georgia Museum of Art to secure this historic agreement and bring justice to our family after 175 years.”

While financial terms were not made public, Drake’s work has seen a meteoric rise in market value. In 2021, a 25-gallon jar fetched a record $1.56 million at auction, underscoring the vast difference between what his vessels command today and the conditions under which Drake created them.

Known today as “Dave the Potter,” Drake was an enslaved potter and ceramic artist who worked in the pottery district of Edgefield, South Carolina, during the mid-1800s. Despite laws and social systems that denied enslaved people basic rights, including laws that prohibited enslaved people from being taught to read and write, Drake signed many of his large storage jars with his name, dates and original poetry, making him one of the few enslaved potters whose work can be attributed.

His inscriptions transformed utilitarian vessels into rare records of an enslaved person’s voice and authorship. Today, Drake’s work is widely regarded as among the most significant examples of American ceramics, with roughly 250 known surviving vessels identified by scholars in museum and private collections. Drake’s work is held by major institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as private collections.

As Drake’s reputation has grown, his descendants have advocated for a greater role in decisions about ownership, interpretation and legacy. The discussions surrounding his legacy have placed it within broader national and global conversations about reparative justice and museum accountability.

“David Drake created work of extraordinary skill, beauty and utility while enslaved, work he was never permitted to own, sell or pass on to his own family,” said David Odo, former director at the Georgia Museum of Art, who was recently named director and CEO of the Honolulu Museum of Art. “This agreement is a small way in which the Georgia Museum can recognize this history.”

Odo said he was grateful for the descendants’ trust in the process and honored that museum visitors would encounter Drake’s work knowing the voice of Drake’s family helped shape how the story is told.

The agreement was reached with The Dave the Potter Legacy Trust LLC, an entity created for the benefit of Drake’s descendants. George Fatheree, attorney for Drake’s family and the Trust, said the agreement represents a significant step toward recognizing the connection between enslaved artists and their descendants.

“For decades, museums have embraced principles of ethical restitution for Jewish and Indigenous communities and foreign governments, but these principles have not been applied to artwork created by enslaved Americans,” Fatheree said. “We’ve invited museums to apply the same moral framework to the artwork created by David Drake.”

The Georgia Museum of Art’s agreement with Drake’s descendants comes amid a broader reassessment by museums nationwide of how works created under slavery are owned, interpreted and shared with the public.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been corrected. A previous version only mentioned one of the two vessels that were part of the agreement.

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Andrew Alexander is an Atlanta-based writer.