-Pistol-Packing Pirate- still bank c. 20th century

This anonymous still bank is a small sculpture of a “-Pistol-Packing Pirate-”, made from painted cast iron. Look at that paint, it seems the artist worked with a limited range, yet the colours still speak to the pirate’s character. It’s crude, a little bit slapdash, but totally charming. The surface of the paint is so thick you can almost feel the texture, and that contributes to the sculpture's sense of weight and presence. But look at the hat, the skull and crossbones motif is so precisely rendered, it really makes it pop. It’s as though the artist was especially interested in the pirate’s power. You could say the raw quality of the object speaks to the aesthetic of outsider art, it reminds me of artists like Bill Traylor, who made art out of whatever was available to him. They share the same sense of invention and a similar confidence in the act of creation.