-Cat Playing with Ball- still bank c. 1905 - 1919

This "Cat Playing with Ball" still bank was made by the A.C. Williams Company and is made of cast iron. There's something so charming about the process here, how the iron is molded to make a thing that invites us to play. I love the way the material seems to hug the shape of the cat's body. It's cast in a way that has real heft and weight, a humble industrial material that mimics the curves of an animal in motion. The uniform dark color over the whole sculpture is like one big brushstroke, and your eye travels around the piece as if you were trying to solve it, like a puzzle. Look at how the light catches on the curve of the cat's back and the way the tail mirrors the curve of the ball. This piece reminds me of some of the folk art sculptures I’ve seen. There’s that same balance between observation and pure feeling for form. It celebrates the process, the pure act of making, over any kind of polished perfection.