Pair of 1950s Gibbs-Conner Cleveland Indians "With Ball" Ceramic Banks - Pastel and Dark Variations

Sold For:

$270

Year:

1950

Auction:

2022 Fall

Lot #:

2410

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

Among the handful of different Cleveland Indians banks produced during the late 1940s and early 1950s is this impressive example courtesy of the Gibbs-Conner company. Gibbs-Conner actually created two styles of banks featuring Indians mascot Chief Wahoo. He can be found standing alone on a home-plate base (two examples are offered in a lot elsewhere in this auction). The other style, offered here, has Chief holding a bat while standing next to a baseball, which serves as the "bank" portion of the figural. Gibbs-Conner produced this design, which is about 7 inches tall and 5 inches wide, in two styles. One has pastel colors and the other bolder, darker colors. In our consignor's opinion, the darker version is the more aesthetically pleasing, but the fact that the pastel example is found nearly as often leads one to believe that both versions were equally popular to fans at the time. Each bank has company markings - "CBC / Gibbs-Conner & Co" - etched on the back of the base. This pastel version, which has a feather that's not original to the piece (easily removable) is in excellent condition. The red lettering on "Indians" on Wahoo's chest is completely missing, indicating a possible factory flaw. The dark version (no feather) is in very good condition with some small scuff marks, including a small one on Wahoo's left cheek and an even smaller one on his chin, mentioned for accuracy. Each bank is missing the rubber stopper that would have been used underneath the base, which is pretty much the rule rather than exception. Reserve $200.