At last, an in depth study of Dave, the legendary and mysterious slave potter whose robustly thrown pots can stir even the most modernist soul. In addition to his large, heart stopping crocks and jugs and jars, what sets him apart from other slave potters is that he, remarkably, sometimes inscribed his pots with poems and sayings and, unheard of for a slave, signed them. Leonard Todd, not a potter himself, or even a historian, discovered that he was descended from Dave’s master and, intrigued, headed down to South Carolina to learn all he could. He has meticulously pieced together Dave’s life, located his known pots, and gathered together his inscriptions. His book, Carolina Clay: the Life and Legend of the Slave Potter Dave is the nice result of this labor. Isn’t it time again for a touring exhibition of Dave’s pots?
I am a bit of a voyeur and love looking at other potter’s kilns and studios almost as much as looking at their pots. In Ken Matsuzaki: Burning Tradition from the Pucker Gallery in Boston, we get both pleasures. There are black and white photos of Matsuzaki at his wheel, in his studio, and firing his kiln, plus shots of the open air kiln shed, the grounds, and pots freshly unloaded. These are followed by pages of full color photos of the wood fired pots themselves: shino bottles that you want to pick up, natural ash glazed-jars, and slab built vases that inspire contemplation. The biographical essay by Andrew Maske describes Matsuzaki’s artistic journey. Reading it, I imagined myself walking around Matsuzaki’s compound, watching him work: things not likely to happen outside the armchair and the pages of Burning Tradition.