-Sleeping Santa (Large Chair)- still bank c. 1954

Editor: Here we have *Sleeping Santa (Large Chair)- still bank*, a ceramic sculpture made around 1954 by Banthrico, Inc. It strikes me as quite melancholic despite the typically cheery subject. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: Well, considering it was produced by Banthrico, known for bank novelties, my attention immediately goes to the materials and process. It’s not about fine art aspirations here, but the industrial reproduction of a festive figure for a clear social purpose – encouraging thriftiness. Editor: So, you see it less as a representation of Santa, and more as an object tied to financial practices? Curator: Precisely. This isn't some heartfelt handmade figure; it's ceramic, mass-produced, and designed to sit on a shelf or desk. The slightly worn paint and the inherent fragility of ceramic underscore its existence as a commodity, a product designed for consumption and eventual obsolescence. It connects holiday cheer with commercialization, doesn’t it? Editor: It definitely shifts the focus. So, what might the material itself—the ceramic—say about the context it was made in? Curator: The post-war boom saw a surge in affordable, mass-produced goods. Ceramic lent itself to that; cheap materials molded easily. Look at the slightly slapdash paint job – that emphasizes the factory line where profits matter more than detail. Editor: It makes me rethink the role of "craft" within Pop Art. Thanks, I’ll definitely be thinking about that during the break. Curator: Glad to bring a fresh perspective to your attention. Thinking about material means thinking about society and labor.