Subasta Bidspirit | Chief Big Moon Iron Bank

Chief Big Moon Iron Bank - Scarce Red & Yellow Base. By J. & E. Stevens Company. Cromwell, Ct. - Circa 1899. In the period, the Stevens Company marketed this toy as the Indian Camp Bank. Today, however, collectors refer to it as Chief Big Moon because this wording appears on both sides of the bank. The Chief Big Moon Bank is one of Charles Bailey's truest and most enduring masterpieces. His faultless intuition, along with his penchant for meticulous detail, illustrate why he is often described as the greatest toy bank designer of all time. He created a unique vocabulary of visual realism in toy design and collectors everywhere have been grateful ever since. His banks are not only fun to play with, they are beautiful to look at. For example, for the teepee of the Indian Chief, Bailey created a group of primitive pictographs shallowly incised on the structure's surface. Equally noteworthy is the bas-relief of images that decorate the base of the bank, an array of tomahawks, quivers and warrior shields. The casting is barely raised from the background, and yet, one can make out every detail. Typically, the base for this bank was finished in a palette of metallic colors. However, on rare occasion, the Stevens Company also used this vibrant colored base to showcase the action of the Chief's fishing expedition.