-Queen's Guard- still bank c. 20th century

Somewhere, sometime, an unknown artist made this Queen's Guard bank, likely out of glazed ceramic. I imagine it was built up slowly, layer by layer, fired, then carefully painted with all its bold black and red, and teeny tiny yellow polka dots. I can almost feel what it was like to paint this figurine! How the painter must have been thinking about how to convey the iconic uniform with just a few simple strokes. The way the shiny glaze catches the light gives it this sort of cartoonish, almost surreal quality, like it’s not quite real but also very, very serious. That round head, the stoic expression, the way it both invites you to look and also rejects you – it feels like a little painting in the round, like the artist was just painting their feelings, as well as a functional and decorative item. Ultimately, it's not just a still bank, but a conversation piece. Isn’t that what all art does?