"A Money Saver" Coin Bank 1935 - 1942

Clementine Fossek created this intriguing composition using graphite and watercolor, presenting us with two views of a coin bank. The monochrome palette emphasizes form and texture, and the visual arrangement offers an opportunity to explore its symbolic resonance. The bank, shaped like a clock, presents time and money as inherently linked concepts. The clock's face, inscribed with "A Money Saver", frames savings as a temporal discipline, perhaps reflecting the emerging capitalist values of its time. This piece acts as a potent semiotic device, encoding broader cultural narratives around time, labor, and value. The meticulous detail and precise rendering invite a deeper contemplation on the object’s cultural significance. Notice how the contrast between light and shadow models the coin bank to create the illusion of three-dimensionality. It serves not only as an aesthetic choice but as a deliberate engagement with the complex philosophical notions embedded within this seemingly simple, functional object.