2015 Through the Mirror: Tales from Childhood. Siobhan Lamb and the Suoni Ensemble. Libretto by Gregory Warren Wilson. PRCD 2074: Proprius Music. $15.10 from Amazon, August, '22.
This is a refreshing approach to the six fables offered. I listened to and enjoyed the first three. What a wide variety of emotions presented by the instruments and the human voices! There are surprising, lively explorations of the stories here. The demanding frog finally finds himself swallowed by chance by the ass to whom the frog has promised a reward. TH is presented in terms of its aftermath conversation between the two contestants. The fox in FC offers to teach the crow how to sing. It helps to have the printed text to check as one listens to this fine CD!
1900? Iron bracelet with clasp featuring three identical parts. TH and FC on each third. Unknown source and time of acquisition.
This is a gorgeous piece. I have tried to render its detail but fear that I have failed. The bracelet is heavy. Its serious clasp bears, in English, "Made in France." Similar bracelets on the web seem to be in the $200+ range.
1959 Three View-Master Talking Reels. Color 3-D photography of figurines in various styles with sound. AVB 309. Portland, OR: GAF Corporation. $15.99 from Tim Hall-Stith, Portland, OR, through Ebay, Aug., '99.
I knew of this special approach to View-Master that incorporates recorded sound and that Aesop's Fables were offered as one of the sets, but I doubted that I would ever find a set. Surprise! The second surprise is that two months later at an off-beat flea market on the state fair grounds in West Allis, I found a working player and got it immediately for half the asking price! The two actually function together quite well. One needs to experiment with the sound bar on the player to get the needle where it belongs on the recording track. The visuals are the same as those on the regular View-Master reels for this set; see my comments there. The read texts here are taken from the same booklet that came with the regular reels. I am impressed on this round with the mid-air fox on the one image for FG, with the shining eyes of the cat in Scene 3 of TMCM, and with the flying hare at the starting line in TH's first scene. I notice that those were also items that impressed me in the visual experience a year ago!
1959 Three View-Master Reels. Color 3-D photography of figurines in various styles. Packet No. B 309. Stories and Adventure Series. Portland, OR: Sawyer's Inc. $11 from Tim Wolfe, Myersville, MD, through Ebay, May, '99.
This seems to be the more original packaging of a set whose pictures would remain the same. Notice that the copyright here belongs to Sawyer's in Portland, with no mention of GAF in New York. See my comments on the GAF version.
1959 Three View-Master Reels. Color 3-D photography of figurines in various styles. Learning Is Fun Series. Packet No. B 309. NY: View-Master Stereo Pictures: GAF Corporation. $9.50 from Pat Aikins, Athens, TX, through Ebay, Feb., '99.
At last I have found the View-Master Aesop that I have looked for so long! In GA the grasshopper has slept all summer and then danced in the fall; the former helps set up a rhyme for the fact that he wept in winter. DS gets only two images. There is a great leaping fox in the one image for FG! TMCM features great lighted eyes on the cat, and a fine paw reaching inside the TM's hole-home. TH has a great leaping hare at the race's start. The other fables here are FC, SW, FS, and LM. A sixteen-page color illustrated booklet parcels the story out among the slides. The set comes in a Special View-master outer envelope and inner packet. The reels themselves are in excellent condition. The copyright on the reels has changed from Sawyer's to GAF Corporation.
1959 Three View-Master Reels. Color 3-D photography of figurines in various styles. Learning Is Fun Series. Packet No. B 309. NY: View-Master Stereo Pictures: GAF Corporation. Gift of Jodi Kava, with a View-Master viewer, July, '23.
I take the occasion of this gift to highlight the 16-page pamphlet that comes with the three reels described elsewhere. The booklet walks through the three reels offering the story for each of the strong images. I have also included this booklet among the collection's published books under 1959. What a thoughtful gift!
2023 Three stickers from redbubble.com. Nov., '23.
Redbubble is quite the collective of creative, sometimes wild, artists. I am delighted to see them play with fables. In this case we have two small designs found elsewhere and one that is new to me.
2020? Three small limited edition prints from LittleMouseCompany: LM, “Town Mouse,” and “Country Mouse.” 7” x 5”, including the white frame. Limited edition of 100. Numbered: LM (#14); TM (#8); CM #18). $11.24 each from LittleMouseCompany, Dec., ’20.
How lovely to see artists taking their inspiration from fables! These are sprightly, lively colored prints. My favorite is “Town Mouse,” with the cork popping off of the champagne bottle before the two mice in their high silk hats. CM presents a nicely contrasting picture of dress, surroundings, table cloth, and what is offered for the meal. I am surprised not to find an artist named.
1930? Three small (slightly over 2" diameter) cheese labels: "K.H. De Jong's Exporthandel" and "Fromage de Hollande." Labels of fables in French and once in English. $15 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
It is curious that the De Jong labels feature one French and one English for the fable title. It is just as curious that the De Jong image for FC is the same image used in the more generic "Cheese from Holland" label.
2000? Three souvenir tiles from the (former) restaurant "Reinaert" in Sint Niklaas Waas, Belgium. Artist FVI. 4.25" square. Hinged for hanging. Made in Belgium: Décor Naniot, Antwerp. Unknown source.
The three tiles come from a restaurant that in 2012 apparently became "Het Wijnhuis." While only one of the three pictures a fable scene, I am happy to include those celebrating Renard in two of his major moments, with his victim rabbit and with his supposed pilgrimage companion
FG
Reynard sits with Cuwart the hare, messenger from the King, before inviting him in. He will give him to his family as food and send his head back to the king!
After his outrageous handling of Cuwart, Reynard is warned by his relative Grymbart the badger, that things are negative at the court. Reynard had pledged to go to Rome as a pilgrim and still wears his pilgrim outfit. Reynard will of course always prevail in the end!
1991 Three Musical Fables. With music by John Rutter. The King's Singers, City of London Sinfonia, The Cambridge Singers. Published by Hinshaw Music, Inc. Omaha: Collegium Records. Gift of Linda Schlafer, Nov., '93.
The three stories are "The Reluctant Dragon" with words by David Grant based on a story by Kenneth Grahame, "Brother Heinrich's Christmas" with story and music by John Rutter, and "The Wind in the Willows" with words by David Grant based on the book by Kenneth Grahame. The album is directed especially to Christmas. "Fable" here means "fairy tale." It is a real pleasure to hear both the excellent singing and the clear articulation by singers and readers. The whole production is tasteful, from text to performance. For a special treat, do not miss the sound of Toad's car in the third fable. I also have this presentation on an audio cassette.
1980? Three Korean Bowls Picturing TH. 4.5" in diameter. Gift of Margaret Carlson Lytton.
Each of these bowls presents TH in a stream running from right to left around the curved bowl. How fascinating!
The Start
The Course
The Siesta
The Home Stretch
The Finish Line
1920? Three more kniferests in the same style: "Heron," FG, and FC. Stephane Prudhomme? €60 from Eric Lussot, Le Rheu, France, through Ebay, Sept., '20.
I worked hard to track the silvermarks on these three very nice kniferests. On the web they are declared to be by Stephane Prudhomme by at least one seller. Elsewhere they are grouped with the two already on this page. I tried hard to photograph the silversmith's "mark" but can only get a blurred representation. The scenes on the two above and on the three here are much more developed than those on the Prudhomme set of twelve listed nearby on this website.
1959 Three Italian View-Master Reels. Color 3-D photography of figurines in various styles. B B 3091-3093. Portland, OR: Sawyer's Inc. $2.25 from Rusty, Musty, Dusty Stuff, Columbia, SC, through Ebay, May, '01.
I had no idea that View-Master had marketed its reels in Italian! What a delight to find these. The images seem to be the same as those on the reels with English labels. Now, I have to ask what other languages View-Master may have used!
It turns out that the issuing of these stamps was more complex. I found that there are alternative versions of each of the three stamps as well as a background sheet giving perhaps a larger sense of each narrative. $38.90 from csts-trade on eBay, July, '18.
1972 Three individual stamps issued by the Republic of Niger. 25F, 50F, and 75F, respectively. In honor of Jean de La Fontaine. $4.84 from Filkom NV, Bornem, Belgium, through eBay, Oct., '08.
I had earlier found these three stamps in three more unusual forms: imperforates, proofs, and first day issue envelopes. Now, at last, I have found good specimens of the three stamps themselves. Click on an individual stamp to see a more detailed illustration.
1992 Three identical wine labels "1992er Traubensaft der Mosel, Müller-Thurgau." From the vineyards of Friedrich Fuchs in Klüsserath. Gift of Friedrich Fuchs.
I had not known that Herr von Fuchs had his own vineyards. The art here is a mixture of, on the one hand, some lovely colored grapes in a suggestion of a landscape and, on the other, a finely sketched angry fox looking back up at the grapes as he walks away.
2000? Three French Hangable Plates in High Relief: TH, LM, WL. NEM (or ONEM). 7.75" in diameter. Unknown source.
Deep relief scene of the fable, with floral patterns at the sides and a moral below. There is a hook for hanging implanted in the resin back.
2000? Three fable canvas tapestries. 7¾" x 17½". FC, LM, and WL. $26.73 from "Une madeleine de Proust," Villennes-sur-Seine, France, through Etsy, Oct., '22.
Three delightful presentations! I wonder if the maker had patterns to work from or perhaps a book illustration. In any case, the maker chose lively scenes!
1950? Three decks of playing cards showing FG on the backs. Against a black background, a brown fox stands up towards some white and green grapes. A banner in white and green proclaims the title underneath the fox. In the sturdy original 3¾" x 7½" slipcase, stamped with "For Samba or Bolivia" on its felt bottom. Cel-U-Tone Finish. Congress Playing Cards. $4 from John Verderame, Morgantown, PA, through Ebay, Sept., '00.
The set comes with a small brochure that helps to explain why three decks come together, for the brochure contains official rules for Canasta, "Incorporating the Latest Changes Made for 1950." The cards are in very good condition. See the adjoining item for a companion deck.
