Money box, 'Maxwell', a male pig wearing a pair of blue trousers and braces with a striped necktie, ceramic, made by Wade Ceramics for NatWest bank, 1980s

Glazed ceramic money box representing a cartoon pig. The figure is standing with its trotters/hands in its pockets, and is modelled to appear to be wearing a pair of blue trousers with braces, and a red and white striped necktie.

Given by Andrew Davidson

Money boxes have been used to centuries as a means of storing and saving coins. Piggy banks are a style of money box commonly used to teach children about the rudiments of thrift and saving. The pig-shape seems to have originated in Germany, where swine were traditionally seen as symbols of good fortune. Piggy banks are made in a variety of materials and styles but are most commonly ceramic.

In the early 1980s, the National Westminster bank commissioned Stoke-on-Trent-based Wade Ceramics to produce a series of collectable character piggy banks, to incentivise saving for children and young people. The original family of five pigs were modelled by Alan Maslankowski (b. 1952-2006). The first, Woody, was given to anyone opening an account with at least £5. If they had then saved £25 after six months, they were rewarded with Annabel. The third, Maxwell, would be received if the account had grown to £50 after one year; the fourth, Lady Hilary, if it had £75 after eighteen months. Finally, Sir Nathaniel Westminster was given to savers who had accrued £100 after two years. The original promotion ran until 1988, by which time Wade had produced around five million of the pigs. It was briefly revived in 1999.

The National Westminster Bank was established in 1968 from a merger of the National Provincial Bank and the Westminster Bank. At the time of writing, it is one of the four largest banks in the UK.

B.28-2021