-Two-Story House- still bank c. 1931 - 1934

This "Two-Story House" still bank was made by the A.C. Williams Company, date unknown, but the aesthetic is very much turn of the century. Notice the smallness of the cast iron piece. Its diminutive size draws us in. The house is a study in geometric forms; the rectangles of the windows, the square of the house itself, and the triangular roof. The surface is rough and aged, its brown color giving it a sense of groundedness. But what does this structure really represent? On one level, it evokes the architecture of capitalism and the accumulation of wealth. Yet, the artist has created something that destabilizes that reading: the house is not functional, it is a bank and is meant for storing money. This challenges our understanding of the relationship between object and its intended purpose.