1980? Russian lacquer box from the village of Palekh illustrating five different stories by Ivan Krylov. Paper mache, gold ink, handmade and handpainted, signed by the artist. 4½" x 4½" x 3½". Excellent condition.
This black box is octagonal, with each of the square's edges turned into a very short side. The colors are lovely. Each of the images has a gold-ink background, and each of the short sides a gold-ink branch pattern. The inside is painted a simple bright red. The five fables--each labelled in Russian with a title--are, if one faces the box, "Trishkin's Kaftan" (top), "Demianov's Fish Soup" (front), "The Cat and the Cook" (right), "The Peasant and the Bear" (back), and "The Wolf in the Kennel" (left). I presume that this is a one-of-a-kind item. It is simply exquisite!
1978 Russian envelope picturing statue of Krylov seated. Unknown source, before July, '21.
The artistry around the Krylov estatue -- in tan and red -- is lovely. The envelope apparently came already stamped. Its glue is or was so good that it seems permanently sealed. I trust that there are no valuables inside!
1900? Seventeen pairs of matchbox labels, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of Ivan Krylov. Described only as "old and extremely rare" by the seller on Ebay. $16 from Vladislav Pronin, Brooklyn, Feb., '00.
What a hoot! I never knew that such a thing existed! I presume that each of these pairs would be cut in two and pasted onto a box of matches. I never thought of finding fables on matchbooks! The designs are simple and appealing, always featuring a white label at the top.
1983 Russian cover with original stamp dedicated to Ivan A. Krylov. $5 from Vladislav Pronin, Brooklyn, through Ebay, Oct., '99.
The printed stamp shows animals around the name of Krylov and notes that it is 225 years since Krylov's birth in 1769. The value of the stamp is 5 Kopeks. On the left of the envelope is a lovely colored oval bust portrait of Krylov.
1970? Russian carved wooden toy depicting WC. Button-activated movement. $20 Canadian from 2013reh001 through Ebay, July, ’21.
This is one of the most successful of Russia’s lovely active carved wooden toys, and it portrays a fable I wish were presented more often. Good operating condition!
1985 Russian carved FS toy, with push button. $10 at Victor Kamkin, NY, April, '98.
Push the button and the fox backs up while the stork raises his head; then the fox offers the stork food in a very shallow dish. Well executed. I saw this in the Kamkin window and asked for it. I was told that they could not get at their display window, but they would let me know the next time they changed their display. On a chance, I called a year later and they had laid it aside for me. Through Roseann Fitzgerald and a friend, I got it--and played with it so much that Tom Greener had to repair it for me when I broke its string.
1990 Russian carved FG toy, with handle and ball-and-string. Gift of Mary Pat Ryan, Christmas, '90.
Get the ball going in a circular movement, and the fox will wag his tail. The "grape" may actually be an apple or a cherry! Ingenious and well executed.
1992 Russian carved FC toy, with handle and ball-and-string. Gift of Margaret Carlson Lytton from the Rose Bowl Swap Meet, Christmas, '92. Extra exemplar, labelled, signed, and tagged as a "Rezcik Collectible" from Heritage International, Ltd., as a gift from Donna Eddy, June, '99. Another exemplar a gift from Simon Mogilevsky, July, '99.
Get the ball going in a circular movement, and the fox will wag his tail and the crow will bob with the cheese in his mouth! Another ingenious and well executed gift from Meg! And now we see that the Russians are becoming more self-conscious about marketing their excellent toys! The other exemplars have the same great action as the original!
1970? Russian Badge illustrating Krylov's FS. Made in USSR. "IL 25." $5 from Vintage USSR Gifts through Etsy, May, '23.
This is a colorful portrayal of the popular Russian fable, similar to but not as heavy as the pins in a series of multicolored metal pins of Krylov's fables from about 2000.
1960? Ruelle Chocolate Cards Album. Complete album of 24 sets of 5 cards each for €175 from Albert van den Bosch, Antwerp, Dec., '22.
I had earlier found several individual papers. They are here. And I have also included the album as a book under "1960?" What a delightful set! The artist(s) really had fun with the fables!
1960? Ten small (2" x 2¾") numbered papers advertising Ruelle "Chcolats-Bonbons" and "Bonbons/Chocolade." Even the title of the collection is bilingual: "Fabels van La Fontaine" and "Fables de La Fontaine." $8.95 for #5 OF from Vintadv, August, '18. Eight further cards for $6 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20. FC (#24) from an unknown source, Nov., '22.
These pictures are fun and exceptionally detailed. In #5, a huge bull looks through a broken fence section at a frog in a swimming suit on his back, perhaps because he has just burst. One can even make out the ox's teeth! I wonder if this collection goes beyond fables. Might it be that the verso of the first of several cards illustrating a single fable offers a bilingual title for the fable? That approach might explain why some of these slips have titles and some do not. Now the collection also includes the complete album of Ruelle slips, also listed under books at "1960?"
1950? Quelques amis de La Fontaine. Paperbound. Ruelle Chocolate. €100 from Albert van den Bosch, Antwerp, July, '23.
I have fallen in love with this landscape formatted booklet. It is an album completely filled with Ruelle chocolate slips. Each of the 24 pages offers five illustrations for a single fable. They are quite playful and creative! Some of my favorites include the exploded frog; the wolf's challenging fist after the crane has removed the bone from his throat; the owl's view of the bones that were his children; the rat captured in the oyster. I could go on. It is a rare treasure. I had previously put together a random sampling of ten of these cards. How nice to get all 120! 11¾" x 8". I am happy to present them all here!
1970? Rubber keychain figure of jogging tortoise. 1¼" x 1¾" x 2¾" high. Unknown source.
I cannot remember where or when I found this keychain figure. He is perhaps unusual for such figurines in that he stands up well.
1903? Complete set of ten numbered photographic postcards presenting "Les Deux Pigeons." RPI. $120 from Bertrand Cocq, Callone Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
Many levels of interpretation are at play in the presentation of this fable. La Fontaine writes this story about two male doves, one of whom has wanderlust and, against the urgings of his dear friend, goes off to experience the world so that, as he sees it, he can return and relate to his dear friend his adventures abroad. The trip turns out to be uncomfortable and dangerous, and the traveler returns wounded. The two are happy to be reunited. La Fontaine himself reflects then, at the age of 68, wondering whether he will ever experience the flames of passion that he did earlier. His last line is "Have I passed the time for loving?" That is, he himself, seems to see a deeply romantic and even erotic theme in the story. Interpreters of La Fontaine have been quick, in my experience, to portray the story as about two lovers. Here we are presented with a male friend who needs to travel, to the pain of his stay-at-home female friend. (Is the male traveler being portrayed here actually by a female?) The set of ten cards tracks the interaction with sensitivity. Notice the eighth card, where the solitary friend waits and hopes for the return of her dear friend. The cards were all posted to the same party during January and February, 1904. All but two are signed by Charles Durandeau. The cursive writing of La Fontaine's phrases on each card is curious.
1900? Six trade cards advertising Royal Windsor hair restorer, as found at Maison Louis Urseau in Angers. Paris: Bognard. €5.50 each from olivier9862 through Ebay, March, '22. One extra copy of GA.
These cards are in unusually good condition, and they are carefully done. The scene of WL is repeated with less shown on every side of the image in a single card advertising Houet in Brou.
1890? 3 colored cards of La Fontaine's fable "Les Deux Pigeons." All three give the full verso to Rousset's instant soups Manioc-Rousset and Consommé Rousset. One extra of card #4, better printed by Abbadie in Paris and advertising instead Réaux in the Grande-Rue in Lisieux. $5 apiece from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, March, '01.
Each card quotes four to six lines of La Fontaine's fable at the bottom of the picture side and offers about four images above and alongside separated by swirling floral borders. There is a number before the verse, giving the card's place in a sequential set that must have numbered six to eight cards. Those here are numbered 1, 3, and 4. The first of these pictures the fable's beginning, when one pigeon decides to leave the other for a trip: a pair of pigeons is juxtaposed to a young man and woman. Card #3 pictures the moment at which an eagle attacks a vulture which is about to attack the pigeon; in the human translation, a horse-rider attacks a man about to attack the young traveler. Card #4 shows the very next phase, a cruel shot of a stone by a boy; here the young man holds his head, stunned by a blow from a sling-shooting youth. Rousset, in the Rue de la République in Lyon, also makes Café Moka for instant Café au Lait. Réaux seems to offer so many products that it is hard to specify what kind of store it is!
1920 Rouse Parian Mug with FG. 2.5" x 2.5". Trenton, NJ: Rouse Pottery. Unknown source.
I was surprised to find an identical mug in the Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Rouse Parian" is stamped on the bottom. As often with the motif of "Fox and Grapes," the fable's emphasis that the fox cannot get the grapes is missed as the two are brought together in image.
2008? Six cards featuring paintings of La Fontaine's fables by Rotislas Loukine. Editions Combier-Macon. €3 each at St. Ouen, August, '13.
These are dramatic oil-paintings! Can we call the style "impressionistic"? One needs to know the fable, but then the picture comments wonderfully on the fable's message!
Four labels come from smaller pieces – 18 grams --of chocolate. The color scheme is different on each, though the format remains the same. By contrast with the larger chocolate bars above, these wrappers seem to be shut, as though the top and bottom have become pasted together. I have not had the heart to re-open them! One verso below gives a sense of the similar siblings.
These four large (8½" x 8") wrappers include a lovely fable picture, which I offer here in each case as a detail. Do not miss what I believe is a double fable representation in the last wrapper. I believe that the artist is representing two fables at once. Might the human figure there suggest even a third fable?
Besides the large maroon wrappers, Rossia also offered gold wrappers in two different sizes: 8½" x 8" (100 gram) and 6¼" x 6" (50 gram). We have two of the former and one of the latter.
