-Statue of Liberty- still bank c. 1910 - 1939

This is a Statue of Liberty still bank cast by the A.C. Williams Company. The surface is textured, almost like a topographical map, with various shades of brown and bronze. You can see the hand of the maker in the way the metal is worked and shaped. I'm thinking about the person who designed this. Did they have a tiny model, or were they going from memory? What did they want to convey, how could they capture this symbol? I imagine them at their workbench, carefully carving and molding, trying to get every detail just right. It must have been a labor of love and a bit of a puzzle. The details that stand out: the way the folds of her robes cascade down, the craggy texture of the stone base, and, of course, that outstretched arm holding the torch high. Artists throughout history, like Courbet and Van Gogh, have explored the expressive power of gesture, capturing the human condition through form and color. And in its own way, this little bank does the same. It's a reminder that creativity comes in many forms.