Susan Parkinson 'Money Bear' Piggy Bank

A large money box in the form of a seated bear designed by Susan Parkinson circa 1952.

The sleek form of the bear is slip-cast porcelain which has been hand decorated using the technique of wax resist and sgraffito. The bear’s body features leaf shaped motifs, and whilst its ears and eyes are more conventionally painted there rendering makes us question if this example isn’t actually a panda bear? 

Either way, as ever, Parkinson’s depiction is effortlessly characterful and wonderfully captures the zeitgeist of Modernist postwar British studio pottery inspired by the likes of the Bayswater Group, aka the Picassoettes.

Model number 7, the money bear, was the first money box designed and made by the Parkinson Pottery. It proved very popular, although, examples of this design are now rare. Presumably this is because we have all had to tamper with a piggy bank at some point -for change for the school bus, or more excitingly pennies for the seaside arcade.

Some of the money bear’s success was perhaps in part thanks to a feature in December 1953 in House and Garden. 

The large scale photograph that the magazine published also showcased two of Parkinson’s larger figurines, her cow and sheep, and the designs were pitched as stylish suggestions for Christmas presents.