In the 1800s, a cluster of pottery works were established throughout Edgefield, South Carolina, that produced large quantities of stoneware from the region’s kaolin-rich soil. Much of the labor was supplied by enslaved people, who were responsible for creating glazed jars, pots, and jugs for the region’s growing population. Most of these wares were made for daily use, while others, like the dozens of surviving face jugs, drew on West African traditions and often adorned African American grave sites. Due to anti-literacy laws in the nineteenth century, it was exceptional for an Edgefield potter like Dave to have signed and dated many of his works, leaving visible testimony of the creativity of Black potters before the Civil War. Dave inscribed this jug with an original poem, as well, which reads, "Better thing I never saw / when I shot off the Lion’s jaw."