From the collection: McCoy Banks

Spare change?

  In the 1970's when I was collecting such things, you could still find great Ohio ceramics really cheap in thrift shops. The best, like Roseville, had already become legitimate, pricier antiques, but there was still lots of funky stuff that appealed to my taste, especially from the McCoy factory. I especially liked the coin banks that they made as promotional items for savings banks. These were often in shapes that referred to the bank's identity, and had a lot of sculptural interest. These are my two favorites:

    I think the sailor (Seaman's Bank For Savings) has a wonderful gestural description of the happily striding sailor with a plump sea bag slung over his shoulder. Unfortunately, I washed the piece not realizing the the red mouth was cold-painted (i.e., painted with paint on the finished ware) and so I accidentally removed the lips from the poor ol' tar, ruinng his value but not his wonderful sculptural expression. 

   I'm also fond of the Poindexter guy (College Point Savings Bank). Just a really funny piece. 

  I would love an opportunity to model products like this. Sadly, McCoy is long gone and banks don't give away such premiums any more. 

Click the images below to enlarge