1890? 1 silver WC button, .6" in diameter. Paris: Solidaire Bte SGDG, A P & Cie, Paris. Gift of Robin Larner, Rochester, NY, May, '99. Extra for $3.25 from Darlene Focazio through Ebay, May, '99.
Identical with the bronze button described just above. Might this button be slightly larger than that? The silver buttons in this series are harder to read than the bronze.
1890? 1 bronze WC button, .6" in diameter. Paris: Solidaire Bte SGDG, A P & Cie, Paris. $10 from Joyce's Jems at the Dulles International Antiques Show and Sale, April, '97.
Clearly the same scene as the larger Gotbuttons and Goldbarg versions of WC. Thus it is also developed from J.J. Grandville's illustration. The doctor's pan is not so easy to identify here. The stance of the figures is that of Grandville's illustration. The stamped metallic front again seems to have been folded over the back with a self-shank surrounded by the manufacturer information quoted above.
1890? 1 bronze WC button, 7/8" in diameter. Paris: Solidaire Bte SGDG, A P & Cie, Paris. $12 from Joni Goldbarg through Ebay, April, '99.
The same in motif motif as the Gotbuttons larger button with these differences: this is brass, smaller, and marked with "Solidaire Bte SGDG" rather than "Breveté" on the back. The metal of this button shows less relief than that of others I have, and the button is thus considerably brighter. This button has the same construction as that, including the self-shank. This specimen seems to be that presented as #11 on Plate 152 of BBB.
1890? 1 two-piece silver WC button, 1 1/16" in diameter. A P & Cie Breveté, Paris. $24.99 from Gotbuttons, Vista, CA, through Ebay, May, '99.
Developed from J.J. Grandville's illustration, I believe, because the doctor's pan is visible near the wolf's back paw. The stance of the figures is that of Grandville's illustration. This and the following three buttons from the same manufacturer are remarkably similar despite their different colors and sizes. The stamped metallic front seems to have been folded over the back, which is lifted at its center to form a tunnel-hole, where others have an implanted hook or circle. BBB calls this a "self-shank" (371). Around this raised mound one can read the manufacturer information quoted above.
Produced and adapted by John Hohmann. Designed by Janet Albrecht. Illustrations by Dominick Giustino. Storytelling by Carl Grapentine. NY: Beanstalk Productions.
2000 The Whimsical Tarot. Boxed. Illustrated by Mary Hanson Roberts. Created by Dorothy Morrison. Deck printed in Belgium. Booklet printed in the USA. Stamford, CT: U.S. Games Systems, Inc. August, '10.
Four cards in this 78-card deck mixing fairy tales and tarot figures present fables: "Four of Pentacles" presents DS. "Two of Rods" presents LM. "Four of Cups" presents "The Emperor's Clothes." And "Five of Rods" presents "The Tarbaby."
2011 The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle. Softbook with caterpillar handle. $4.95 from Black Swan Books, Oakland, Dec., '19.
Here is a book of eight pages that counts its way through the caterpillar's meals until, on the last page, one finds "beautiful butterfly." I am not sure that this is the text of Carle's original fable, which, I gather, has become justly famous. It has stimulated a variety of copies and versions. Here is one of the more surprising versions! The first page even rustles and crinkles!
2001 The Value of Friends/The Best of Friends. Oakland: Jataka Tales for Children: Dharma Publishing.
This CD-Rom, produced together with a coloring book containing the texts, presents the stories in two booklets with these same titles, published in 1990 and 1989, respectively. There are several voices, music, and good sound effects. The LC blurb for "The Value of Friends" is accurate: the hawk and his family are made aware of the value of friendship when their friends the osprey, the lion, and the tortoise save them from hungry country folk. In "The Best of Friends," a Great Being, in the form of a woodpecker, frees a lion from a bone caught in his throat. They encounter each other later when the woodpecker is hungry and the lion has just made a kill. The lion dismisses the woodpecker. The latter will not, however, get revenge, as he tells a sky fairy. He explains that "He helped the lion in order to end his pain, not to gain a reward." The woodpecker adds that he counts as friends everyone he meets.
1930? 7" white plate from Sarreguemines, France. Inside a 1.5" rim there is a representation of Grandville's "The Two Rats, the Fox and the Egg." The front carries two inscriptions: "Fables de la Fontaine" and "7. Les Deux Rats le Renard et l'Oeuf." The back has a "Digoin" stamp.
This is among the most successful illustrations in this series. A good illustration is distinctly portrayed. The egg looms rightly large on the rat's belly. The fox peeks around a corner.
1930? 7" white plate from Sarreguemines, France. Inside a 1.5" rim there is an adaptation of J.J. Grandville's "The Two Rats and the Egg" (X 1). The front carries two inscriptions: "Fables de la Fontaine" and "Les Deux Rats, le Renard et l'Oeuf." The back has "Fables de la Fontaine" and "Digoin/Sarreguemines/France." $33 from Brown Pelican Antiques, Panama City, FL, May, '99.
This illustration uses Grandville for the basic form of the two rats and the egg, but changes the forest of the book engraving into a bit of vegetation and an opening through which the fox can peer at the scene. The work is not quite as distinct as the GA in the same series.
