Labor, Luster, and Lineage: “Hear Me Now” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina,” an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, examines ceramic vessels made by enslaved Black potters in 19th-century South Carolina. The artisans responsible for crafting the displayed jugs and jars—whose sale typically benefited factory investors and owners—remain largely anonymous. But it is clear they were part of shared networks of knowledge and skill. “Hear Me Now” reassesses the aesth