Rabbit still bank c. 20th century

This anonymous Rabbit still bank was probably made to hold pennies and sit on a shelf. The cobalt-blue decorations are so charming and precise, which is often how you find art in unexpected places. Look at the way the cobalt paint sits on the glazed ceramic. It’s smooth, cool, and a little bit shiny, which is kind of different from the way I usually think about putting paint on a canvas. I find myself looking at the little feet on this bunny and thinking about how they carry the form, but also how the decoration makes them sort of disappear into the whole. It reminds me of the work of Betty Woodman, who treated ceramics with a painterly sensibility and brought together an interest in decoration, form, and history. This bunny might be a more functional object than Woodman's sculptures, but they both share a love of detail. After all, isn't art just a way of looking closely at things?