A piggy bank for storing memories
I am Tokyonese doc (Edokko), we are famous in Japan for being very impatient and hasty character.
I certainly didn't have the patience to accumulate money with piggy banks, and I usually forgot them before filling.
A moneybox is a bit of a mystery.
I don't remember ever buying it, and I don't remember who gave it to me, but somehow it's there somewhere, forgotten in my house in Japan.
The same thing happened in Italy, by now when I grew up.
However, a difference from Japan is that here in Italy you could see here and there, in the houses, many terracotta piggy banks in the shape of an almost archaic amphora.
When I first saw a terracotta moneybox in Italy, I did not even know it was to store money. I found several terracotta ones in my home and in my relative’s and friend’s, but I never paid much attention to them. A piggy bank that resembles a potsherd excavated from an ancient ruin is certainly a simple and attractive shape, but perhaps I would never have been interested in hoarding coins.
Me and this terracotta object got close when I received it as a gift for the opening of a lighting company.
That evening, my partner put the terracotta piggy bank on the table, looked at it, thought about it for a while and said with a serious face:
"Let's put a coin for every kiss"
After that, I couldn't wait to hold the piggy bank, which was getting heavier every day, with both hands and shake it to see how much we had accumulated.
So many kisses!
Its cute and rounded shape, the pleasant sensation to the touch of terracotta, all this instinctively made me smile.
This piggy bank doesn't have a cap, so you can't open it until you break it with a hammer, as a symbolic ritual.
It was a long time ago, so I don't remember how long it took for it to fill up, but one day, we put the full piggy bank between us, kissed to commemorate the occasion, and broke the terracotta with a hammer.
I had a mixed feeling of sadness and happiness.
Since then, I have loved this terracotta moneybox.
