"Le Rat qui s'est Retiré du Monde." Plate · Carlson Fable Collection

Title: "Le Rat qui s'est Retiré du Monde." Plate
Description: 1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing three scenes depicting "Le Rat qui s'est Retiré du Monde." Numbered "8." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $45 from Daria Edwards, NY, Feb., '00.

This sad story is of the religious hermit-rat who moves into a cheese to live and turns down his fellows when they, under attack, come asking for help (La Fontaine VII 3). He offers them a blessing and says that he, separated from such worldly concerns, will give nothing more. Here a colored panel shows three human soldiers appealing to a monk who leans out of his home's window as they appeal to him. The smaller monochrome panels show the animal scene, complete with its large ball of cheese, and also the enemy: the cat waiting at a hole for any rat who emerges.
Source: $45 from Daria Edwards, NY, Feb., '00.
Date: 1900?
Subject: The Rat who Withdrew from the World See all items with this value; Tableware See all items with this value; Plates See all items with this value; Creil & Montereau Colored See all items with this value