2004 Cross stitch of FC "Wrought by the Hand." Dorothy Unangst. 9½" x 7½". $5 from dcmanno through Ebay, Nov., '02.
Very nice work! In this case, the crow is perched on top of a roof rather than in a tree. The composition is lovely. Trees on either side frame the house together with the two characters. Beautifully framed.
1970? Crocheted doily of "The Fox and the Goat." $50 from an unknown source, March, '20.
Here is very delicate work. The fox has tried to talk the young goat into opening the door and has been rebuffed. Is "loup" here misspelled "loop"? I am not sure how a piece like this would have been used. My, how Aesop gets around!
1890? Nine Creil & Montereau plates. Lebeuf Milliet (Mujjet?). Porcelaine Opaque. Illustrating named fables of La Fontaine. €160 from Stéphane Lavalley, Feb., '22.
I think I recognize these illustrations of La Fontaine, particularly TH and GA, but I cannot name the artist. The outer circular frame and dentils just inside them remain the same throughout the series. How many might the series include? Lebeuf and Milliet became owners of the faience works in Creil and Montereau in the mid 1800's. The seal on the back of each plate proclaims the gold medals won in 1834, 1839, and 1844.
1900? Set of 12 monochrome -- brown against a cream background -- Creil Montereau plates. Each numbered plate offers an application or human occurrence of La Fontaine's fables. €100 from assietteparlante21 through Ebay, Sept. '21.
This set seems identical in form with the four colored plates I found earlier. One (Fool Selling Wisdom) is cracked and repaired. A lovely set, full of wit! See a further use of these designs under Porcelaines Champs-Elysée.
1979 "The Fox and the Grapes." Sculptured by Herman L. Deaton. Hand Painted on Cold Cast Bronze. No. 1048 of a Limited Edition of 9750 plates. 7¼" in diameter and 1 inch deep. $26 from Gerald Kaylarian, Seattle, through Ebay, July, '99.
Now this is a weighty object! "Plate" here is no longer something one eats off of! The spatial presentation of the fable is very good. This fox cannot get at these grapes, but the hill lures him into trying it. I have seen this piece offered several times on Ebay but never anywhere else. Are there more plates in a series?
1964? Four E.S. Creation Carrère "en feutrine" black-background felt cards of La Fontaine's fables. E.S. Paris. $8 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20. Extra copy of FS for $8 from Cartophilian Collectibles, Cheshire, CT., Jan., '01.
Postmarks on these cards begin in 1965. I have found two other cards from the same firm online: Donald Duck and Snow White. What an unusual concept in postcards!
1979 Cover, The New Yorker, Oct. 22, ’79. Arnie Levin. Xerox copy, 8.5” x 11”. Gift of Tom Beckman.
This tortoise is bedecked with all the stickers and symbols and advertisements of an Indy 500 race car. The two faces tell a lot: the tortoise is eager. The hare is surprised at the livery!
1930? A pinback 15/16" in diameter, labelled "Aesop's Fables - Countess - 23." $1 from James Lennon, Naples, NY, through Ebay, June, '99.
Against a white background we find "Aesop's Fables" at the top, "Countess at the bottom, and "23" on the right side. In the cneter is figured a dancing female mouse. I suspect the pin has something to do with the Aesop's Fables movie cartoons that were popular at the time. My, what one does not find! In this case, the price was certainly right!
2003 Le Coq et le Renard. Colored title-card and six black-and-white postcards. Claude Coudray. Les Fables de la Fontaine. Limited edition. 2e Salon de l'Image et de l'Écrit. Montmorillon. €10 from the wife of the deceased artist at the Paris Post Card Exhibition, Jan., '05.
This was my first find at the Paris Post Card Exhibition. I do not understand the verso of the title-card: "Série de 50 cartes (1000 ex.)." I understand better the verso of each of the six cards in this set: "Tirage limité exemplaires 90." The text used in the cards is perfectly faithful to La Fontaine. This is a lively and lovely set! One card done by André le Guilloux was part of the same Salon show in 2003 as presented "Le Coq et le Renard."
2024 Cotton runner with stitched TH title and characters. 18" square. Prize in a trivial-pursuit faculty contest sponsored by Reinert Alumni Library, April, '24.
Here is another surprise addition to the collection. Once it was offered as a prize, I worked hard to win the competition! Then I was told that it was stitched over lunch the day of the contest. Wow! Another unexpected appearance of Aesop!
1985 8 cotton fabric panels by Juliette Mairel. Paris. 18.5" x 15". Brown, Cream, Yellow, Black. $9.95 each -- except for FG for $7.50 -- from tmoney417 on Ebay, Sept. '21.
I find the illustrations exceptionally well done. The creator, captured on the edge of one of our clothes, seems otherwise unknown. The use for these clothes remains unclear to me, but I am delighted that they have not been used before!
1999 Cotton baby's bib featuring the tortoise and the hare. 7½" x 8". 100% cotton terry with water-resistant vinyl plastic. Oyster Bay, NY: Baby's 'n Things. With a matching bottle $4 from C-N-C Treasures through Ebay, Jan., '01. Extra exemplar for $9.59 from Pat Zaborowski, Fernandina Beach, FL, through Ebay, Sept., '00.
One of these bibs came with a baby's bottle which has a similar illustration of TH. This design has the tortoise walking right and wearing a hat. Click on the image to see it enlarged.
1935? Picture postcard. 3.5" x 5.5". "Cortege des Fables de La Fontaine et des Contes de Perrault, Le Meunier, son Fils et l'Ane." $5 through eBay.
If one looks closely, one can make out the sign apparently carried with this cortege: "Il est difficile de contenter tout le Monde et son Pere." It would take great archival work to date and place this photograph! That part of a parade presents the fable is a testimony to people's acquaintance with it and its popularity.
1890? Complete set of twelve magic lantern slides of numbered fables of La Fontaine. Original box. 8½” x 2⅛“. €200 from Thierry Corcelle, Paris, July, ’19.
Exquisite set, numbering each of the 24 fables on 12 slides. The color work is exquisite!
1. GA / 2. FC
3. Schoolmaster & Child / 4. Robbers and Ass
5. SS / 6. Asetrologer & Well
7. and 8. MSA
9. and 10. MSA
11. The Master's Eye / 12. The Miser and His Treasure
13. BS / 14. The Angler & the Little Fish
15. TB / 16. The Man and the (Frozen) Snake
17. MM / 18. Women & Secrets
19. Two Friends / 20. The Oyster & the Litigants
21. The Mongolian's Dream / 22. The Old Man & Three Youths
23. Forest & Woodman / 24.The Fool & the Sage
2005? Copy painting of Gustav Klimt's “Fable.” Ross. 27.1” x 22.7”. Unknown source.
I show also an image of Klimt's original. As I mention of our photograph of Klimt's painting, starting from the right, we find here FS; FK; perhaps “Heron”; perhaps “Lion in Love”; and perhaps TMCM. There may well be other fables hidden in the painting. The fox's vase and the two mice not come out as clearly in Ross' more impressionistic handling of the scene. Is the "Ross" here Bob Ross, the well known painter?
2000? Cookie Cutters of Tortoise and Hare. Foose Cookie Cutters. 5.25" (tortoise) and 4" (hare). Unknown source.
A quick search online did not find identical items, even though Foose cookie cutters are all over the web. There is also Foose custom ribbon with which to make one's own cookie cutters: might this be how our two came to be?
