Stoneware Piggy Bank

Artisan: Jane Graber
Date: 2022
Inscriptions: signed with initials ‘JG’ (on the underside)
Dimensions: 16 x 15 x 12 mm. / ⅝ x ⅝ x ⅜ inches (height x width x depth)
Intended Room: Night Nursery
Inventory number: 2022.176
Category: Ceramics

Provenance: Purchased from Found, Goshen, Indiana, the Graber family shop, in May 2022.

It was love at first sight with this gorgeous little piggy bank, which matches the blue-and-white stoneware range by Jane Graber. From its smiling expression to the scalloped detail around its back, it was irresistible. There’s even a tiny slot in the back (but no way to retrieve the money!). I’m not entirely sure that this would be accurate for a Victorian nursery, because although pig-shaped money boxes were used as far back as the 13th century in Java, the earliest mention of them in the English-speaking world is in 1903, when they seem to have been regarded as particularly Mexican (thank you, Wikipedia). Still, allow us a bit of artistic license. This little treasure will sit on a shelf in the Night Nursery, keeping the children’s savings safe.