2004 Arthur Rackham, "The Shipwrecked Man and the Sea" from Aesop's Fables (1912). Copyright 2004 The Estate of Arthur Rackham/The Bridgeman Art Library. $1.75 from Penny's Postcards, Pearland, TAX, through eBay, May, '04.
This formidable portrait may go against the fable text. The sea blaming the winds seems to have a temper of her own to work on!
1988 Racing plastic turtle. 2½" high. Funrise Company.
Frances writes that Funrise put out a line of storybook characters from fairy tales and fables. This little fellow with #18 on his chest has a great smile!
1905? Benjamin Rabier, "Le Rat qui s'est retiré du monde." Chocolate Lombart, Paris. €12 from Les Larmes d'Éros, Éditions Astarté at Paris Post Card Exhibition, Jan., '05.
Instead of living in a big Dutch cheese, the hermit rat here lives in a tin of fine chocolate from Lombard. As with the other Rabier card I have found, this one was expensive. It came from a dealer in erotic cards who had proclaimed that he had nothing to offer me. It always pays to search!
I have found two cards designed by Benjamin Rabier to advertise Lombard Chocolate. I found them in very different places in the world! Click on either card to see it enlarged and to learn more about it.
1905? Benjamin Rabier, "Le deux Rats et le Renard." Chocolate Lombart, Paris. $35 at Foster City, Feb., '97.
Instead of carrying an egg, the rat being pulled by his tale in this version carries on his belly a large can of Lombart's "Melange de Thés Noirs"—and smiles! The upper right corner is creased. I was aware of paying a lot of money for this card, and I still think it is worth it!
1950? "les belles décalcomanies," two sets, each with 16 "transfer pictures" of La Fontaine's fables. R.S. Paris. €6 each from labuandrie, through Ebay, Oct., '23.
The seller designates these two folders in good repair as coming from 1910, but I believe they are more likely from about 1950. At first I thought these images were what we called "transfers," instant tattoos. I changed my mind when the instructions urged "coating with varnish the next day to make them permanent"! Though there are two sets, there are repeaters between the two sets. There are repeat images even within the same collection.
1973 Pop-out card of Ivan Krylov's "Quartet." Artist: B. Andreveo. Mapisha: Ezdatelvstvo Knuska. Rostov-on-Don. $5 from Valentina Kudinova, Kharkiv, Ukraine, through eBay, Nov., '11.
One of the recurrent mysteries for a collector is: "What was this object made for?" Here is a wonderfully pleasant and creative presentation of Krylov's "Quartet" with a cover, a canvas binding, and two pages that spread out to let the musicians find their space. Of course, in this fable they never do! The text is on the back cover, along with way too much bibliographical information!
1908 Puck cartoon cover “The Republican Hare and the Democratic Tortoise.” L.M. Glackens. Vol. LXIII, No. 1636. July 8, 1908. 10” x 13.7”.
The tortoise says “If that chap only goes to sleep, I’ll win out by a mile.” Viewers may want to notice the tortoise’s hands. The two faces are very well done. Are they Democratic tortoise William Jennings Bryan and Republican hare William Howard Taft? Apparently Taft did not go to sleep!
1950? Two postcards advertising Pro-Pax Insecticide. "The Lion and the Gnat" and "The Gardener and the Bear." €9.50 each from Gil Derudet, Saint Cloud, France, through Ebay, April, '22.
Lovely art work, which the seller describes as art nouveau, particularly in "The Gardener and the Bear." The artist seems to sign his or her name "Deratt." So now: Are there more cards in this series?
