Antique Cast Iron Still Bank Puppy with Bug on Back Puppo Minnie by Hubley
Description: A nice antique cast iron still penny bank. It is cast in the form of a puppy sitting on all four with his head turned to the right. There is a bug, possibly a fly, on his back and she is trying to see it. The puppy has a red mouth and black eyes. It has the word "MINNIE" written on its chest. The piece has a brown color or patina, which maybe an indication that something happened to the original paint. Maybe it was subjected to dirt, fire, was buried for a while, was colored by the young person who once owned it, or possibly this is a rare variant with a different color. References shows the bank being white and black in colors and hence our confusion. The casting is very well done and shows great details of the puppy and bug. The bank is made of two halves held together with a screw. We believe the screw is original to the piece. We have not opened the bank and as such we do not know if it has any markings. The bank has the coin slot on the back at the base of the pup's head. See page 81 in Andy and Susan Moore's book "The Penny Bank Book; Collecting Still Banks" Published by Schiffer Books, of Exton, PA in 1984 for a similar example made by Hubley in the 1920s-1930s. This bank is referred to as Puppo and is bank 416 in the reference mentioned. This bank was purchased as part of a large collection of cast iron penny banks, which we will be listing over the coming weeks and months. Please carefully review the pictures presented as they are part and parcel of our description.
Date: 1920's - 1930's.
Origin: Purchased in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Size: Measures approximately 5" in height and is 3 7/8" by 3 1/4" at the base. The bank weighs almost 2 pounds.
Maker: Uncertain, but most likely Hubley.
Marks: Uncertain, since we did not open it to see if it is marked.
Distinguishing Characteristics - Most Interesting About The Piece: Very nice bank in very good condition which would look nice in your collection.
Condition: Bank is in excellent condition with no repairs or breaks. It's original color has been covered with a brown coloring of unknown origin, but one can see its original coloring under the brown coloring. The screw holding it together appears to be original to the piece. However. we were unable to unscrew it and that is the reason we did not open the bank. As we indicated earlier, we believe the piece is all original and we did not see any problem with the piece except for some minor surface rust on the base. However, this does not distract from the bank's quality or beauty. Please see photos for additional condition information.
