''Rachel'', also known as ''Market Foundation Piggy Bank'', ''Rachael the Pig'', ''Rachel the Pig'' or ''Rachel the Piggy Bank'', is an outdoor bronze sculpture of a

piggy bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th centur ...

, designed by Georgia Gerber and located at

Pike Place Market Pike Place Market is a Marketplaces#Types, public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott B ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, in the United States. It was dedicated on August 17, 1986, the market's 79th birthday, and is maintained by the Pike Place Market Foundation. Modeled after a pig (also named Rachel) that lived on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

and was the 1985 Island County prize-winner. In 2006 ''Rachel'' received roughly $9,000 annually while in 2018, donations increased to $20,000. The money is collected by the Market Foundation to fund the Market's

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or adminis ...

.John Livingston, "Porcine Birthdays Reminiscent of Swine Times", ''Pike Place Market News'', March 2006
p. 12
. Accessed 16 October 2008.

Description

The

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

describes ''Rachel'' as a "life-size, realistic figure" of a sow piggy bank. The Pike Place Market Foundation calls it the "mascot" of

. The bronze sculpture depicts a pig with a money slot on the top of its head and measures approximately and weighs . Bronze

footprint Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. T ...

s are on the sidewalk leading to the pig figure. One nearby plaque reads: "Market Foundation Piggy Bank. Made possible by a gift from Fratelli's Ice Cream, August 17, 1986". Another states that money deposited into the piggy bank benefits local human service organizations.

History

The sculpture was surveyed by the Smithsonian's

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

program in April 1995 and was deemed "well maintained". On February 5, 2011, ''Rachel'' was struck by a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choi ...

and was knocked off its concrete base. The sculpture suffered cosmetic damage, including a crack along the left ear and a dent on its left side, and was repaired at Gerber's studio on Whidbey Island. ''Rachel'' returned to the Pike Place Market on March 18, 2011, after a tour of Seattle landmarks in a vintage farm truck. ''Rachel'' was joined by a "cousin" named ''Billie'', installed in July 2011 at the Western Avenue entrance to the market.

Description

History

See also

References

Further reading