I had a piggy bank as a kid. It was white, with flowers painted on its belly, a rubber stopper underneath, so I could take out the coins and count them from time to time. Not that there was much in it, mind you. Except for First Communion or Confirmation, we weren't on a cash economy, back there on the farm. (And allowances were what happened to town kids...)
So when I started making my own piggy banks, I did no flowers whatsoever. Just a wheel-thrown body, handle-pulled legs and ears and tail, porcelain eyes. Oh, and the cork moved from the belly up to the mouth, gave that flat-nose pig snout look.
Our banks have wheel-thrown bodies, with handbuilt features added when they're partially dried ("leather-hard"). All feature a coin slot on top and a no-penalty withdrawal system (okay, a cork or rubber stopper) for easy liquidity.
Regular bank patterns include classic Piggy banks, Elephants, Cats (in
two tiger patterns: Cobalt blue on white and Rutile Gold on white), Chickens
(for your nest egg), Frogs (because they make people hoppy), and for those inheriting old money, Tyrannosaurs, Stegosaurs and
Brontosaurs. Yes, I know, the official name is "apatosaur." But which would you
rather be, a "long neck" or a "thunder lizard?" I rest my case.
Blame it all on E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh.
Other animals may be special-ordered, price quoted on request. I've made an opposum (with prehensile tail curled around her kit), armadillo, even a giraffe. The price for a special order will vary with its complexity; the giraffe, with wheel-thrown neck, body, and all four legs cost about twice the usual bank fee. But it was awfully cute. One thing about special orders--they can't be done fast. Depending on where in my firing cycle I am it can be as little as two or as much as six weeks before they're ready. Just so you know.