1900? 6 Dust jackets ("Couverture Cahier") "Fables de La Fontaine" by Auguste-Godchaux, Paris. Artist: L. Mimard. Colored presentations of individual fables and texts – both in ornamental frames -- on both covers. €6 each from Chromosetcollections on Ebay, Nov., '20.
Godchaux seems to be active up to the present. These colored images dramatize the fables in energetic ways, although within less energetic classical "frames." Best of the group of six might be MSA. Also good is "The Miser Who Lost His Treasure." The framework on front and back covers is identical. It includes floral patterns and several key fable images, like FC, LM, and WL.
1930? Three leaflets in a series advertising Sirop Laxatif Gobey, each offering a colored image and an image to color. 2P, OF, and TMCM. Signed “P.K d’A.” Paste-over indicating either producer or distributor: Labunis, S.A., in Brussels.
It is easy to find Gobey laxatives on the web and many humorous cards they produced for their laxative syrup, meant particularly for children, young women, and older people. These cards to color do not show up among them. For me, the best of these three is the one that a young hand started to imitate but got only as far as some orange and a very little bit of brown. The coloration and facial expressions are particularly well done in this colored scene.
1965? Six cards from a larger group derived from a 1960's French television show presenting La Fontaine's fables through puppets: "Les 'Petites Maries' Jouent." Éditions d'art Gnoe, Arcueil. Copyright S.P.A.D.E.M. Imprimé en France. Procédé 301. Draeger, Imp. 164. $30 for the set of six from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
The colored photographs here are uniformly framed in a puppets' stage. We have cards #2 (FC); #3 (FS); #5 ("The Cat, Weasel, and Little Rabbit," first scene); #6 ("The Cat, Weasel, and Little Rabbit," second scene); #8 (TH); and #10 (GA). Now let us find the others!
1960? Four trade cards advertising "Glucalcium à la Vitamine C Infantile" from Laboratoires Clevenot in Nogent-sur-Marne. "Fox and Goat"; "Two Doves"; DW; and TH. 3½" x 5½". €16 from Akpool, Feb., '19.
Here is a set I have not seen before. The artist's name seems to be "Forguet, perhaps with a first initial of "R." Lively cartoon scenes!
1940? Glass slide of WC from the Bayeaux Tapestry. 4” x 3.25”. Art Dept., Smith College. Unknown source.
Black-and-white glass slide, with an image 2.75” x 1.75”. Few objects in the collection have come as heavily identified as this slide, which came through the Smith College’s Art Department. It also had some involvement with the public library”. Which public library? To help identify the scene, I offer a larger swath of the tapestry that includes this pleasant little scene.
1900? Glass magic lantern colored slide of Gustave Doré's TMCM. 7" x 3 7/8". Labeled on the lower rim "Class 29. Series 11. Fables of La Fontaine. No. 2. The City Rat and the Country Rat. B. 1 F. 9." $19.99 from phillips_bradley on Ebay, Dec., '19.
The coloring of the image here is surprisingly strong. The image is about 3" in diameter.
2010? Glass block with 3-D engraving of FG. 3" x 2" square. $14.99 from ellenmagpie through Ebay, Dec., '24. One extra copy.
My, what one can find if one only looks! And now, years after finding this little treasure, I had no recollection where I found it, but I finally found one on Ebay. Beautifully executed!
1982? "Mr. Fables Family Restaurants" gift certificates. Grand Rapids, MI. $16 from anythingeverythingandmo through Ebay, Oct., '22.
There are five packets here. Two each contain three $W1 gift certificates. Three contain ten $1 gift certificates. The back of each booklet lists the eleven locations of Mr. Fables Family Restaurants. See also our Mr Fables travel mug.
1920? 8½" cream-colored plate with a blue-green colored design depicting WL. The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" and "Le Loup et l'Agneau." The smudged back stamp reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." $25 through an unknown source prior to 2007.
The block lettering is typical of Gien work. The wolf is looking up and even seeming to look beyond the offending lamb. It is hard to know whether this is a normal plate that a clever person has made into a wall decoration -- or whether Gien did the piercing of the glass back of the plate. As I say of the larger colored plate of TT done by Gien, it was apparently made from the start to adorn a wall rather than a table.
1920? 7 7/8" cream-colored plate with colored design and raised edges depicting the fall of TT. The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine 12" and "La Tortue et les Deux Canards." The back reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." $25 through Myrtice Stratton and Ebay, April, '99.
A charming plate. It depicts the fall just after the tortoise has let go of the stick. The countryside is beautifully pictured, though the seller found it somewhat discolored with age. There is a string through two holes in the bottom rim of the plate. Apparently it was made from the start to adorn a wall rather than a table. Click on the image to see an enlarged version.
2000? Gien Fables Mug Fox And Stork. Faience. Fait main. Made in France. $35 from jdwyl0 through Ebay, Oct., '21.
Here is yet another approach to fable illustration by Gien.
2000? Gien Fables Salad Plate. Fox and Crow. Faience. Fait main. Made in France. F. Balducci. 8.5". $40 from kara_kat through Ebay, March, '25.
Again, I am impressed with the distinctive style and coloring. Here the anthropomorphized fox waits with open hand while the crow sings on. The fox wears sporty trousers.
2000? Gien Fables Dessert or Salad Plate. Fox and Stork. Faience. Fait main. Made in France. Unknown source.
What a distinctive style! Here the fox is particularly well done, especially in his pose and facial expression. I have seen four such plates illustrating fables on the web, as well as other tableware items in the Gien Fable series. I would love to include more of them in the collection!
1920? Eight cream-colored plates with colored designs. Each plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" at its top, with the individual fable title at the bottom. Each back reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." €200 from entrepot*d on Ebay, Jan., '21.
I was sure that we had some of the plates in this series; it turns out that we have plates from at least four other series, but not from this series. We have a similar but smaller plate for hanging depicting TT. I picked up from the kind seller that the plates have numbers, though I could not find them at first on the plates themselves. We have, from what seems to be a set of 12:
#3: "Crow and Eagle"
#4: BF
#5: "Fox and Goat in a Well"
#7: FC
#8: FK
#9: OF
#10: "Rabbits and Frogs"
#11: WL
Ebay.fr has revealed to me that #6 is CJ. From our other holdings, it seems that TT is #12. The other two (#1 and #2) seem to be FS and BC.
1920? Eight cream-colored plate with colored designs. Each plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" at its top, with the individual fable title at the bottom. Each back reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." €200 from entrepot*d on Ebay, Jan., '21.
I was sure that we had some of the plates in this series; it turns out that we have plates from at least four other series, but not from this series. We have a similar but smaller plate for hanging depicting TT. I picked up from the kind seller that the plates have numbers, though I could not find them on the plates themselves. We have, from what seems to be a set of 12:
#3: "Crow and Eagle"
#4: BF
#5: "Fox and Goat in a Well"
#7: FC
#8: FK
#9: OF
#10: "Rabbits and Frogs"
#11: WL
Ebay.fr has revealed to me that #6 is CJ. From our other holdings, it seems that TT is #12. The other two seem to be FS and BC.
1990? Boxed set of six dessert plates "Fables de la Fontaine." On the back of each plate is "Musée de la Faiencerie de Gien." Gien: France. $90 for the set from Eric Zimmermann, Quebec, Canada, Nov., '00. One extra exemplar of "Le Renard et la Cicogne" for $9.99 from the same source through Ebay, Nov., '00.
This lovely set combines busy central images with a uniform "leaf, grape, and vine" decoration around each plate's border. They choose well when they put FC on the cover of the box. My second prize goes to "The Crow Trying to Imitate an Eagle." In both of these, the open spaces make reading the plate's central image easier and more enjoyable.
1929 "Les Fables de Gibbs." Signed "Erel." 11¾ x 15¾". GA (Feb. 9), WL (Feb. 25), and MM (May 4).
Clever parodies of La Fontaine. "Le Chat et l'Oiseau" is a parody of WL: whatever explanations the little bird makes, the cat will eat the bird. GA is composed in particularly idiomatic slang verse, but I think it comes to something like this: a rogue having knocked about all summer comes to an old haunt and asks for a few rounds, offering only a brush in payment. The innkeeper asks what he did all summer and then responds that he can brush now. A barber snoozes and dreams that he has established a high-class shop in Paris and makes lots of money. He is awakened to give a local a shave. As La Fontaine wrote, we all construct castles in Spain. The mountain brings forth a little tube that later becomes famous worldwide.
2010 Get Fuzzy. Darby Conley. UFS. Unknown venue. Unknown source.
I apologize to viewers and readers. “Fable” gets used so broadly that I often do not know whether I should include materials that I think do not pertain to this collection. Sometimes I decide to err on the side of caution before I hand the object on elsewhere. The malaprop here is, I believe, a real groaner, far fetched and not worth the fetching.
1900? A metal coin slightly over 1" in diameter showing the fox and the crow on one side and German verse on the other. $38.59 from Kevin Kelley, Harrisburg, SD, through Ebay, July, '99.
The verse reads "Wann Dein Spiel der Gegner preiset,/ Dann gieb doppelt auf Dich Acht,/ Und erinn're Dich des Raben,/ Den zuletzt der Fuchs verlacht." That is, "When your opponent praises your play, pay doubly close attention to yourself and remember the crow, on whom the fox had the last laugh." I am tempted--but afraid--to clean and polish up this old coin. Who knows what circumstances ever gave rise to the distributing of a coin like this!
1920? Coordinated set of nine tin tableware implements. German? $80 from Claudia and Waltraud Pressler, Ellhofen, Germany, Sept., '01.
There is even a strainer to hang on the wall rack. The set, with a grey background, features three motifs in red-and-black coloring:
TH: The hare reads the paper while the tortoise trudges by.
FC: The crow in a tree holds a large cheese suspended above the fox's mouth.
FS: The fox raises a paw to a tall bottle in which the stork has his beak.
1908? One colored "The Man and His Goose" card advertising Stapler Crackers from the Original Trenton Cracker Company. $7 from Mary Dempsky through eBay, Dec., '03.
Sickle-like arcs divide the colored image into three sections. The large center portion shows the goose having laid a golden egg. Arcs enclosing the upper right separate a picture of the man having killed the goose. The arcs at the lower left show the repentant man having found nothing unusual inside the goose. The picture uses a different title: "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg." It does not punctuate "Aesops." The text side has "Printed in Germany." It introduces a long description of its product with this question: "Do You Use the Cracker Stamped 'Stapler'? If not, why not?"
In a curious way, the cards from this series come in two different sizes: 3⅛" x 4⅜" and 2¾" x 4"
"3⅛ x 4⅜"
1881 6 colored cards stamped "Copyright 1881 Geo. W. Hayes." Used by various advertisers. From a variety of dealers, especially Inland Empire, usually about $3 apiece. Click on any of these small images for an oversize view of the card.
1928 23 "Fables in Slang" comic strips by George Ade. Many signed "Art Helfant." Unknown source.
I have enjoyed books of George Ade's fables. Those were text narratives. These cartoons are fun. They involve gentle social critique. Online commentators note that they present vernacular rather than slang. Ade was an accomplished playwright. Apparently these cartoon strip fables were syndicated nationally. I include them as a strong example of a popular use of the word "fable." Besides, they have their own charm!
