Cast Iron Toy Bank: Humpty Dumpty c. 1937

Lew Tower’s watercolor rendering of a cast iron Humpty Dumpty toy bank captures the object’s quirky essence. The composition, dominated by Humpty Dumpty’s head and torso, emphasizes geometric forms, particularly the cone of the hat and the circular ruff. The artist is less interested in realism, more in form. Observe how the color palette – the muted reds, blues, and grays – contributes to the playful yet slightly unsettling mood. The toy bank, itself a cultural artifact, presents a semiotic puzzle. Its intended function, to encourage saving, clashes with its grotesque features, creating a tension that destabilizes its simple purpose. Tower highlights this tension through the strategic use of light and shadow, exaggerating the toy’s contours. What is evoked is a sense of decay. This engages with the broader philosophical idea that meaning is constructed through these visual and cultural codes. This artwork, with its focus on form and cultural resonance, serves as a commentary on how we create meaning in the objects around us.