The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has reached a landmark agreement with the descendants of David Drake, the enslaved potter whose inscribed stoneware has become one of American art's most resonant rediscoveries. The museum has restored ownership of Drake's 1840 Double-handled Jug to his family and will purchase the vessel back for its permanent collection, accompanied by an authorized certificate of ethical ownership.

The agreement is the first time the Richmond museum has resolved an ownership claim for a work of art made under the conditions of slavery. Drake's descendants began communicating with the museum about the jug in February of this year, and the board of trustees fully supported the ethical restitution and repurchase. With the announcement, five major American museums have now returned or ethically resolved ownership of Drake's work.

The jug itself is extraordinary. It is the first recorded signed and dated poem vessel Drake produced, and one of only about forty identified signed and dated poem wares by his hand. Acquired by the museum in September 2017, it has been on continuous display ever since. Standing nearly eighteen inches tall with rare strapwork handles, it is signed "L. Miles Dave" — recording both the artist's name and that of Lewis Miles, his enslaver and factory owner — and dated January 29th, 1840.

The vessel's inscription is itself an act of defiance. Writing was illegal for enslaved people throughout the Southern states, yet Drake covered his pots with his name, dates, and short verses. On this jug, the poem nods to the tannery at the Miles factory: "Ladys & gentlemens Shoes = / sell all you can: & nothing you'll loose."

"Dave risked life and limb, breaking strict literacy laws to create this artwork, which reflects his bravery, tenacity and spirit," said Yaba Baker, Drake's fourth great-grandson. The family's advisor, George Fatheree III, called it a demonstration of what it looks like for institutions to live by their values and take meaningful action toward justice.