-Wimbledon Bank- c. 1885

Curator: What a curious and compelling piece. What's your immediate reaction? Editor: My first thought is that it’s incredibly somber and playful all at once—the tiny soldier aiming at what looks like a makeshift fort...It makes me feel like I'm peering into a child’s war game but rendered with this rather intense level of realism. Curator: Precisely. It's a mechanical bank dating back to around 1885, crafted by John Harper & Company. It is appropriately named “Wimbledon Bank”, constructed primarily of brass. Editor: A bank? I would never have guessed. It is sort of morbid to deposit money in it, isn't it? Tell me, what would the implications behind placing value next to an act of aggression? Curator: That's quite insightful. Mechanical banks were indeed popular toys. What we see represented, seemingly, is a specific military exercise; shooting matches became quite fashionable around this time period in English history. Editor: So it memorializes recreation in an aggressive sort of way? But it can't be only that. To me, it's also about how societies teach children to internalize ideologies – in this case, conflating saving and perhaps empire, both protected at a distance through an act of practiced force. It makes saving seem… militaristic. Curator: Yes, there’s an echo of cultural conditioning here. And, remember, toys often serve as training grounds for societal norms. This work provides potent visual language around the notions of security and wealth during a period of immense nationalistic fervor. Editor: A bit like shaping tiny patriots. The flag is also something that carries significance here; is there a symbolic understanding to what it means and why this was specifically chosen? Curator: That flag likely identifies the particular division or perhaps represents an era. Visual elements were often encoded to remind its beholder of military identity, and perhaps instill civic virtue, so that younger audiences may appreciate its significance as they interacted with it. Editor: This little sculpture contains layers that expose societal practices, cultural expectations, and even indoctrination methods—and that all makes saving all the more questionable! Thanks, I now need to rethink my relationship to savings. Curator: Indeed! Even something as seemingly innocent as a child’s toy can unlock such profound cultural insights. A fitting moment to reconsider our relationship with material objects.