Badly damaged ABC plate, The Fox and the Grapes

Title

Badly damaged ABC plate, The Fox and the Grapes

Description

1880? One badly damaged and clumsily repaired ABC plate 7½" in diameter. Various patterns encircle the alphabet displayed on the plate's rim. On its inner circle in capitals are "Æsop's Fables" above and "The Fox and the Grapes" below a pleasing design of a fox walking away from grapes hanging from a tree. Maker unknown. $29.99 from Susan Levine, Scarsdale, NY through Ebay, Sept., '99.

I have seen ABC plates on Ebay and hoped to land one, but they have been very expensive. Finding a broken one was my lucky way to beat that problem! Someone e-mailed Ms Levine during the auction with the information that it was customary, after a child grew up, to break his ABC plate and then glue it back together. Maybe that is what happened here. Actually, I like it broken! Around the letters of the alphabet are, in order, diamonds, and a maze pattern surrounded with a dark band that reaches to the edge of the plate. Colors are painted onto the central scene: red for flowers; purple for grapes; brown and green for leaves, grass, and ground. Has some color washed off?

Source

$29.99 from Susan Levine, Scarsdale, NY through Ebay, Sept., '99.

Date

1880?

Subject

The Fox and the Grapes See all items with this value

Tableware See all items with this value

Plates See all items with this value

ABC Plates See all items with this value