Toy Bank: Bird Feeding its Young 1935 - 1942

This drawing depicts a ‘Toy Bank: Bird Feeding its Young’ and it’s rendered in brown ink and graphite. Looking at the dense details, I can imagine someone carefully observing this object and slowly, patiently trying to capture its form. I wonder what the anonymous artist was thinking while they made this. I feel such sympathy for all the anonymous artists throughout history - all that work, all that vision, and we don’t even know who they are! It makes me think about my own practice, and the way that other artists, known or unknown, influence my work. I mean, who knows who made the first mark?! The object itself feels so tactile - I really want to reach out and touch the wings of the bird. I am so drawn to the surface, the texture, the carved shape of the wings, and the whole thing has a symbolic weight to it: the feeding of the young is such a basic, fundamental, activity, for us, for animals, for everyone...