Pig still bank c. 20th century

This adorable ‘Pig still bank’ was made by an anonymous artist, and you can see it here in the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Its dark, speckled glaze, punctuated by those simple red and white accents, feels like a happy accident. Looking at the surface of this little guy, I am interested in the way the glossy glaze interacts with the form. It’s thick in some areas, revealing the raw clay beneath the feet. The artist probably didn’t conceal their process; it’s about the joy of material transformation. That single slash of white paint for the eye—it's both crude and precise. It's a great example of how a single gesture can bring an object to life. It reminds me a little of some of Joan Miró's playful ceramic sculptures, where form and function blur. Art is about embracing the unexpected and finding beauty in the imperfect.