1975? Mistigri: Fables de La Fontaine. Deisgned by Monique Berthoumeyrou. Made in France. $10 from M. McQuade, Arlanc France, through Ebay, August, '16.
Card game with 15 pairs corresponding to 15 well known fables of La Fontaine. The fable characters and their artistic illustrations are well matched. "Mistigri" is a generic name for card games of this sort; one of many other names is apparently "pouilleux." It also seems to be a name for a cat popular in French pop culture.
1910? Black-and-white photographic postcard labeled "101 L'Avare qui a perdu son Trésor. – J.L.C." $10 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
The scene is worked out well here, and in some detail. The miser's "hole" is a natural indentation in the terrain, and he has his bucket nearby. Somebody is doing some harvesting with the large basket in the background. The miser is crushed and the neighbor, with his umbrella and bare feet, has a forceful posture. Well done! This does not have the look of a card in a series of, say, six cards about one fable. This seems rather to be a single view of a fable suggesting its climax and point.
1950? Minute Biographies. Pages 11-12. Aesop and John Adams. 7¼" x 10". $7.49 from Bankhead & Company, Alpharetta, GA, through eBay, August, '05.
I had no idea that such a thing existed. Might this have been a book of poster-like individual biographies for posting in, say, a classroom? I am surprised to find the Aesop page speaking of Delphi as his native city. A rough approximation of Fontana's scene of Aesop with courtly women balances a redoing of the head of Aesop done after Velasquez' painting.
1875? Twelve six-inch square tiles. Manufactured by Mintons China Works, Stoke on Trent. Designed by John Moyr Smith. The mark on each back includes "Walbrook, London." All twelve for $480 from Margery Northup through Fran's Estate Sales, Gilbert, AZ, March, 2001. Extra copies of FC and FS for $102.5 from Riverwalk, Hattiesburg, MS, through Ebay, Feb., '00.
These blue tiles surprised me when I first discovered them. I did not know that Minton did blue as well as brown tiles. They are apparently exactly the same in design. Are the patterns here as crisp and clear as on the brown tiles? The titles are read in curious fashion, starting from eleven o'clock and reading toward three o'clock, and then restarting from eight and reading toward four. Do the twelve make up a complete set? Click on any tile to see it enlarged.
2000? Minton Replica Mini-Tiles. .5" square. Original set of 6 plus a duplicate set. Unknown source.
These sets have experienced disintegration because the tiles are brittle. And they are so small! Four pairs remain intact, and a fifth single is still almost all there. Perhaps meant for a doll house?
Around the second-floor fireplace in Cole Cottage, on the grounds of Nashotah House in Nashotah, WI, there are 13 tiles of fables. These photographs of them are a gift of Linda Schlafer:
1. DS
2. "The Fox and the Goat" (repeated)
3. WL (repeated)
4. TH (repeated)
5. LM
6. FK
7. FC
8. "The Lion in Partnership"
9. FS
10. "The Tortoise and the Eagle"
1870 Series of Three Brown Tiles. Minton Hollins Co. Patent Tile Works, Stoke on Trent. No. 2 RCW. $150 each from an unknown source.
These three tiles are clearly in a series. A curious feature is that two of them have lettering on the back at a 90 degree angle from the image on the front. The lettering on the back of these tiles is clear. Two are in excellent condition, while one (The Sow and the Fox) has a chip off one corner.
The Hound and the Hunter
The illustration here seems to accord with a portion of Bewick's for the same fable. Other illustrators include the prey that the old dog is no longer able to hunt as once. The image here is identical with that on a colored Minton tile in our collection for which we have estimated a date of 1880.
The Wolf and the Sow
The pose of the wolf here is noteworthy. He leans into the pen as though he is concerned and eager to help. The artist emphasizes the sow's size and her udders. The wolf is offering help, sometimes identified as midwife or medical or baby-sitting help. The sow responds that he can best help by leaving. Watch out for an enemy offering help!
The Boar and the Fox
The artist's boar may be less successful than some of his other objects. He seems not presently to be sharpening his tusks. The fox, on the other hand, is a good representation of the curious bystander at a bit of safe distance. The time to sharpen tusks is not during battle but before.
1995 Mint Imperforate Proofs of the six La Fontaine fable stamps of 1995. $8.99 from Boyd Lien thorugh Ebay, Dec., '19.
I do not know stamp collecting, and so I am learning something here about the process of producing a stamp. I was surprised to see this offer come up on Ebay. I continue to be surprised at the many publications and printings in which this stamp issue expressed itself.
