Matchboxes
I have found matchboxes and matchbox covers from France, England, and Russia. Matchbox covers can be found here. Matchboxes themselves are here in four groupings:
French Matchboxes
I have put together four different purchases of Seita matchboxes. Let me describe them first and then present images. Those images will match those that I have listed under French matchbox covers.
1950? Thirty French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian. From desallumettesenveuxtuenvoila through eBay, August, '15.
Here is a complete set of thirty matchboxes.
1950? Twenty-nine French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian. $25.90 from from desallumettesenveuxtuenvoila through eBay, August, '
This almost-complete set, missing only "Les Deux Pigeons," replicates the full set of covers in both sets of SEITA illustrations, minus the two larger covers apparently used for packages of ten. Their images are thus the same as that set.
1950? Twenty-nine French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian. £14 from lifeiselsewhere through eBay, April, '03.
It is comic that I have two sets that are complete except for one matchbox. Luckily, the missing matchbox is not the same in this set as in the other. Here the missing matchbox is "The Lion and the Mosquito." Again, this almost-complete set replicates the full set of covers in both sets of SEITA illustrations, minus the two larger covers apparently used for packages of ten. Their images are thus the same as that set.
1950? Fourteen French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian. 13 Euros for thirteen matchboxes from Romuald Outrequin, Toulon, France, through Ebay, Jan., '02. These join a set I had bought from Mr. Outrequin earlier.
These are the first that I found, and they are those pictured first below. What a pleasure to see covers I had found in two other places now on their boxes. FG, TMCM, and "La Taupe et les Lapins" repeat from there. Strong new designs here include "La Belette Entrée dans un Grenier," FK, "Le Heron," and "Le Renard et le Bouc." Just below are those first-found fourteen.
To get an overall sense of the series of matchboxes involved here, I offer a portrait and a landscape view of them together, those that are landscape-formatted. Click on either image to see it expanded.
and those that are portrait-formatted:
Oversized French Matchboxes
2010? Four supersized (4 ¼" X 11 ½" X 1") matchboxes featuring details of Fraipont's 1888 illustrations along with La Fontaine's text for FS, WL, FG, and MM. Made in France. Allumettes Seita. $11.93 apiece from Desallumettesenveuxtu on eBay, August, '15.
Russian Matchboxes
1992? Eighteen matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of Ivan Krylov. $25 from Samuel Princell, Lille, France, through eBay, Dec., '05.
Here are the same matchbox labels mentioned in the previous item, but now gathered as a set in a lovely presentation box. It turns out that there is one more member of the set that was not present in the individual pairs of illustrations: "The Fox and the Grapes." The designs are simple and appealing, always featuring a white label at the top. Fables included are:
- The Broom
- The Cat and the Cook
- The Cock and the Pearl
- The Cuckoo and the Cock
- The Dragonfly and the Ant
- The Eagle and the Mole
- The Elephant and the Pug
- The Fox and the Grapes
- The Industrious Bear
- The Lion and the Fox
- The Mirror and the Monkey
- The Monkey and the Spectacles
- The Quartet
- The Raven and the Fox
- The Swan, the Pike and the Crayfish
- The Swine Under the Oak
- The Two Dogs
- The Wolf and the Stork
English Matchboxes
2000? Set of five English matchboxes, each with a black-and-white image on one face and the corresponding fable text on the obverse. "AV 30." Made in Japan. Cornish Match Company, Cornwall, St. Ives, GB. $50 from Leonie Walker, Derbyshire, England, through eBay, Feb., '12.
A quick guess says that these are Bewick illustrations. The fables presented are OR, TH, CP, AD, and "The Countryman and the Snake."
An American Matchbox
1990? Matchbook advertising "Aesops: Riverside's Finest." Unknown source
This matchbook features an image of a fox looking up at Aesop, who holds a staff. The restaurant advertises itself as "Riverside's Finest." A quick check in Google seems to indicate that this restaurant, however fabulous it was, no longer exists.