Tammany mechanical bank

ca. 1873

Place madeConnecticut, United States, North America

Iron, paint

Overall: 5 3/4 x 4 3/8 x 3 in. (14.6 x 11.1 x 7.6 cm)

Purchased from Elie Nadelman

1937.1237

This object was once part of the folk art collection of Elie Nadelman (1882-1946), the avant-garde sculptor. From 1924 to 1934, Nadelman's collection was displayed in his Museum of Folk Arts, located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The Historical Society purchased Nadelman's entire collection in 1937. With humorous and sometimes satirical subjects and brightly painted surfaces, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century mechanical banks amused children while encouraging thriftiness. This mechanical bank is said to represent Boss Tweed, the notorious Tammany Hall leader, pocketing illicit money. The Tammany Bank is based on Patent No. 145,734, issued to John Hall on Dec. 23, 1873.

MarkingsCast on each side of chair: "TAMMANY BANK [with fan motif at center]"; cast on back of chair, top: "PATD DEC 23 1873"; Nadelman collection sticker: "450 / Am"

ProvenanceCharles Burns, Mamaroneck, NY, 1928; The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman, Riverdale, NY

ClassificationsTOYS

DescriptionCast iron mechanical bank in the form of man seated in chair with low arms and high bank; chair painted green with brown trim, with pierced decoration; man dressed in brown suit with yellow waistcoat, posed with one hand raised (with separate notch of metal to hold coin); cast inscription with fan motif on each side of chair; when coin is placed in figure's hand, the weight of the coin causes the hand to lower and deposit the coin into the pocket of the figure.Published ReferencesPerspectives on the Collections of the New-York Historical Society (New York: New-York Historical Society, 2000), 136.

Ellen Paul Denker, "Collector' legacies," The Magazine Antiques 167 (2005), 176-180.

Margaret K. Hofer and Roberta J.M. Olson, Making It Modern: The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman (New York: New-York Historical Society in association with D Giles Limited, 2015), cat. no. 87, 326-327.

N-YHS RR Negative Number 29287

Object NameMechanical bank