Hear me now : the black potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina / edited by Adrienne Spinozzi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Vincent, 1967- author.

Bramwell, Michael J., author.

Lasser, Ethan W., author.

Young, Jason R., author, interviewer.

Dave, active 1834-1864, author.

Contributor:

Spinozzi, Adrienne, editor.

Leigh, Simone, interviewee.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), host institution, issuing body.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, host institution.

University of Michigan. Museum of Art, host institution.

High Museum of Art, host institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American potters--South Carolina--Edgefield--Exhibitions.

African American potters.

Potters--South Carolina--Edgefield--Exhibitions.

Potters.

Stoneware--South Carolina--Edgefield--History--19th century--Exhibitions.

Stoneware.

South Carolina--Edgefield.

Genre:

exhibition catalogs.

Exhibition catalogs.

History.

Physical Description:

199 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 27 cm

Distribution:

New Haven ; London : Distributed by Yale University Press

Other Title:

Black potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina

Place of Publication:

New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, [2022]

Summary:

"Recentering the development of industrially scaled Southern pottery traditions around enslaved and free Black potters working in the mid-nineteenth century, this catalogue presents groundbreaking scholarship and new perspectives on stoneware made in and around Edgefield, South Carolina. Among the remarkable works included are a selection of regional face vessels as well as masterpieces by enslaved potter and poet David Drake, who signed, dated, and incised verses on many of his jars, even though literacy among enslaved people was criminalized at the time. Essays on the production, collection, dispersal, and reception of stoneware from Edgefield offer a critical look at what it means to collect, exhibit, and interpret objects made by enslaved artisans. Several featured contemporary works inspired by or related to Edgefield stoneware attest to the cultural and historical significance of this body of work, and an interview with acclaimed contemporary artist Simone Leigh illuminates its continued relevance. Adrienne Spinozzi is Associate Curator in the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York." -- Publisher's description

This in-depth look at the remarkable alkaline-glazed stoneware from Edgefield, South Carolina, recenters the development of Southern pottery traditions around enslaved and free Black potters working in the mid-nineteenth century. The publication brings together more than 60 rarely seen works, including figural face jugs and slip-decorated pottery by known and unknown makers. Among the most remarkable works featured are masterpieces by David Drake, known as "Dave the Potter," who signed, dated, and incised verses on many of his jars, even though literacy among enslaved people was criminalized at the time. In addition to surfacing new scholarship on the production, collection, dispersal, and cultural significance of stoneware works from Edgefield, this publication also offers a critical examination of what it means to collect, exhibit, and interpret objects made by enslaved artisans. An interview with contemporary artist Simone Leigh, the US representative for the 2022 Venice Biennale, connects Edgefield vessels to present-day conversations about sculpture, identity, and visibility.00Exhibition: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (09.09.2022-05.02.2023).

Contents:

Director's foreword

Preface / Adrienne Spinozzi

Contributors

Lenders to the exhibition

Map of Old Edgefield District pottery sites

Note to the reader

The art of enslaved labor / Vincent Brown

Confronting, collecting, and celebrating Edgefield stoneware / Adrienne Spinozzi

Incidents in the life of an enslaved abolitionist potter written by others / Michael J. Bramwell and Ethan W. Lasser

"But oh the clay is vile" : Edgefield pottery in life and death / Jason R. Young

A conversation with Simone Leigh / Jason R. Young

Plates

Works in the exhibition

Verses by Dave

Notes

Selected bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Photography credits.

Notes:

"This catalogue is published in conjunction with Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from September 9, 2022, through February 5, 2023; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from March 6 through July 9, 2023; the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, from August 26, 2023, through January 7, 2024; and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, from February 16 through May 12, 2024. "-- Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-190) and index

ISBN:

9781588397263

1588397262

OCLC:

1336938332