Description
This piece SOLD through iNVISeDGE for AU $195 back in 2012!
Background Info and Provenance
(Written in 2012)
A vintage Bennington hippo coin bank made in Vermont, USA. This is a 1960’s piece and was designed by David Gil. Bennington Pottery at various stages of its life has been regarded as one of the world’s great potteries and still is today. Starting in Bennington, Vermont in the late 1700’s, the business became hugely successful but grew too quickly and died in the mid 1800’s. It was resurrected by David Gil in the mid-1950’s and still runs to this day. Gil’s designs are hugely successful particularly his animals which have huge design appeal- the bull he designed and the hippo are brilliant. I rate this hippo above a Bitossi piece. There’s more work and talent involved in creating it and it makes you want to smile just looking at it. Do hippos have this cute nature in the wild? Maybe not, but this doesn’t spoil this piece.
This hippo is the only Bennington piece I’ve ever seen in Australia. They’re hard to find in America but here they’re infinitely rarer. This is a great investment- well marked to the base and in my eyes can only increase in value in the future.
The real beauty of owning vintage Bennington Pottery is knowing these items were made with real passion and soul- yes they were made by people by HAND. These pieces won’t be in vogue for just a season or even a couple of years before ending up as landfill. This piece has survived 50 years already and recently has developed a large collective of enthusiasts in America- I can understand why! There are very few better ways to invest in your home and our environment.
PICK-UP . . . from 30 or 40 minutes North of BRISBANE city is accepted but postage is preferred as my home is hard to find. Because of this I will nominate a friend or family member for you to collect the item from if you need collection. Pick-up in person must be worked out prior to purchase- thank you. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE is offered internationally. All our Decorative Arts pieces are delivered through AUSTRALIA POST. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE ESTIMATES. . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To BRISBANE- most of our pieces cost $15 - $18 to send. . . To SYDNEY or MELBOURNE- Small Vase- around $20 - $23, Medium Vase- around $20 - $25, Large Vase- around $24 - $30. Let us know if you need an EXACT COST for postage prior to purchase. The above postage estimates include $2.95 for a signature on delivery. . . INSURANCE against being lost or broken in transit up to the value of $200 is included in the estimates above. If your vase is cheaper or more expensive than $200 this will effect your postage fee slightly. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A BOXING FEE of $3.00 is included in the fee above to cover the cost of searching for and storing used packing materials. With the millions of cardboard boxes that end up as landfill every year we don’t believe in supporting the manufacture of boxes for post. Instead of buying new boxes and packing materials and passing this cost onto our customers we spend considerable time sourcing used boxes and then fashioning boxes to fit each item. We do the same for bubble-wrap and foam pieces. This requires a large investment of time, energy, ingenuity, organization and storage space- it is much easier and cheaper to buy new packing materials but I can’t justify taking the easy way out when so much packing material ends up polluting our earth. Our $3.00 charge does little to pay for the time (and storage) needed do this and to pack your item (there is also the time needed to get your package to the post office). This is something we’re happy to do for our customers and the environment. We appreciate your support in this area.
We accept DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT. We send photographic ID of the store owner (Michael Grealy) to all customers at the point of sale, along with media articles about iNVISeDGE with photos of Michael Grealy in them (most of these articles are about 10 years old). Your payment will be paid into an Australian ANZ bank account under the name Michael Grealy (or iNVISeDGE). Please read our ebay feedback spanning more than 15 years for irrefutable proof of our online trading history and reputation. Ebay feedback can ONLY be left by LEGITIMATE PAYING customers! Additionally please be aware that in Australia ALL consumers are protected BY LAW if the goods or services they buy are not as described. (But this should be of no concern- in our first 15 years of trading we have over 1150 positive ebay feedback comments and ZERO negative feedback comments.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On occasions a DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT can be made at the time of collection. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On occasions CASH payment when you collect your item may also be available. Confirm prior to purchase if you need this. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other payment methods are available but problematic and may incur additional fees. Tell us prior to purchase if you are unable to feel 100% confident with our trading history and payment methods so we can negotiate something else with you.
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