Boston MFA Restores Enslaved Potter David Drake's Works to Descendants

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) has taken a historic step by restituting two stoneware vessels created by David Drake, also known as Dave the Potter, an enslaved 19th-century potter in South Carolina, to his descendants. This marks the MFA's first restitution of artwork created under slavery, acknowledging the ethical imperative to address works taken through forced labor, similar to standards applied to Nazi-looted art or Benin bronzes. The two vessels, the "Poem Jar" and the "Signed Jar," made in 1857, bear Drake's signature and poetic inscriptions, acts of defiance given that literacy was illegal for enslaved individuals. Under the agreement, legal ownership of the jars was transferred to a trust formed by Drake's descendants; the MFA repurchased the "Poem Jar" and will keep it on display, while the family retains the "Signed Jar," which is on long-term loan to the museum. Drake's great-great-great-granddaughter expressed deep gratitude for the museum's ethical leadership, emphasizing that Drake never owned his creations during his lifetime. This restitution not only restores ownership but also honors Drake's legacy and challenges historical injustices tied to the art created by enslaved people.