1908 1 numbered German card of Stollwerck's "Helden-Album," No. 10. Almost 2" x 3¾". "Fischer-Coerlin." Gruppe 440, No. I. "Stollwerck's Deutsche Alpenmilch-Schokolade."
On the verso of this pleasing full-color portrait-format portrait of La Fontaine is a biography of the poet. In the picture itself one can make out a fox and crow, as La Fontaine himself holds a book. Stollwerck has a celebrated history from 1839 to 2011. It was famous among other things for candy vending machines. Stollwerck's "Helden-Album," published in 1908, included some 288 cards.
1965? Set of 20 embroidery stitching cards plus four extras. Complete set. Fables de La Fontaine. Numbered 1-20. DMC.
Now here is something unusual, even unique. I did not know that there were embroidery stitching cards. DMC is apparently a thread manufacturer. These are advertisements for their thread, as the cards promise "solid colors, brilliant, durable." I wonder what one would then do with the 24 fable panels embroidered with the help of these cards? And would the sewing happen on the very card itself? I learned on the web that "DMC has been developing award-winning fine threads and specialist yarns for makers since 1746, when artist Jean-Henri Dollfus joined forces with a pair of equally visionary entrepreneurs. Today DMC produces their natural yarns in Italy and France, collaborating with some of Europe’s most prestigious fashion houses, venerable art galleries, up-and-coming designers and needlecraft bloggers."
1910? Sterling bowl labelled "Sterling E S C." 6½" in diameter. With six fable titles and images around its inner rim. $200 from maxbernat through Ebay, March, '22.
The six segments are particularly well done. Even the transition sections, each in three parts, follow a theme but vary it in each case. Lovely! The choice of fables to offer departs from the usual here in several cases.
1910? Seven stereoscopic photographic postcards of La Fontaine fables. "Scènes de Genre." Paris: L'Imprimerie Nouvelle Photographique. $60 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Another from Bertrand for $8, Sept., '20.
What a fascinating find! One finds that interpretations offered elsewhere are confirmed here, for example, that people interpret WL often in terms of romantic relationships between the sexes, and that "Two Doves" is regularly seen the same way. Some of the fun with these cards is that the characters and even their dress seem to repeat from story to story. Apparently the photographer had a small stable of actors and costumes to work with! It is surprising that GA appears twice, in apparently different conceptions of where the encounter takes place. The cicada has a shawl in one depiction that she does not have in the other. And is it supposed to be winter? My favorite among the cards is MSA: the characters have good poses revealing their attitudes.
1930 Complete set of twelve silver plated kniferests (portes couteaux) by Stephane Prudhomme illustrating favorite fables. Apparently in the original box. $154.71 from brocs_en_stock on Ebay, Jan., '18.
Each knife rest is a panel 3¼" wide and 1" high supported by triangles on the edges, whose other two sides are ¾" and 11/16". A sale on the internet was helpful for identifying this set as coming from Prudhomme. The small square towards the left edge in the top frame presents Prudhomme's mark, S and P around a caduceus. It took a high-resolution scan to produce the picture below of that mark. The twelve fables presented include expected standards like TMCM, CJ, GA, FS, WL, 2P, "The Hares and the Frogs," and "The Heron." There is also Florian's "The Monkey and the Magic Lantern. Three others are harder, at least for me, to identify. Is one "The Fox and the Cat"? What is the small object in their image? In another, two fowl seem to be arguing over a snail. In a final knife-rest there are three birds: might they be the mother lark and her young?
1905? Five photographic postcards presenting "Revanche de la Cigale," apparently a sequel to "La Cigale et la Fourmi," presumably after La Fontaine. VBC Série No. 3046. Stebbing Photographic Studios. All were sent to Mademoiselle Marie Louise Bruyère (chez ses Parents), Grande rue à St Genis, Laval, Rhône. At least one card is clearly dated 1907. $9.99 from Joachim Montbord, La Sauve, France, through eBay, March, '04.
Series #3046 is five cards on the cicada's revenge on the niggardly ant. The story follows up on Series #3045, "La Cigale et la Fourmi." The cicada character is the same in all cards of both sets. Here the rejected cicada finds a fairy godmother who trains her musically. The cicada, now rich, returns to the ant, who has been thrown out of her home and needs to sell everything. The ant is the same actress as in the other set, and the venue is the same, except for the "For Sale" sign here. The gracious cicada takes no revenge but rather opens her purse for the unfortunate ant. There is extensive pink and green coloring of these black-and-white pictures. I wonder how that was done.
1905 Complete set of 5 colored photographic postcards "Lex Tourtereaux" after La Fontaine's fable "Two Doves." Stebbing, Paris. $60 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
This portrayal of La Fontaine's fable follows the traditional interpretation but not, I would say, the original story. La Fontaine's fable is of two deeply befriended birds, one of whom feels the need to travel. That bird does so, but undergoes frightening experiences and a good deal of suffering before returning to the welcoming bird-friend. This portrayal links two human lovers with two nearby birds but contents itself with simple lines matching the photographs. "Two doves love each other with a tender love." "They cannot live one without the other." "They were always cooing." "They embraced each other without stopping." "They loved each other….they were happy."
1905? Complete set of five photographic postcards presenting "La Cigale et la Fourmi," VBC Series Number 3045. Stebbing Photographic Studios. Five cards and two extras for #35 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Extra of the first card in the series for $3 from Elsa Pinto, Paco de Arcos, Portugal, June, '13. Extra of #5 for $1.50 from Joachim Montbord, La Sauve, France, through eBay, March, '04.
The story here follows La Fontaine but stresses the emotional experience of the cicada. It is hard to be sure of the order of the cards. I presume the sequence runs like this: (1) The lovely cicada sings before the ant requesting food. (2) With trembling hand, she then asks out of her poverty for charity and compassion. (3) But asking this neighbor is useless. (4) "You have sung well, but you have not amassed things as I have. You will have to dance." (5) Poor cicada, abandoned! How sad! There is extensive pink coloring of these black-and-white pictures. I wonder how that was done. Stebbing follows up with a sequel, "Revanche de la Cigale," VBC Series #3046, using the same characters, actors, and setting.
2000 Statuette of FG. 2½" x 3" x 4¼" high. Made in China. Dundee, MI: Young's Inc.
How nice to see that people keep on making things reminiscent of fables! The box even tells the fable on two of its sides.
1930? 9 colored La Fontaine prints signed "Starling." 100 Francs each at a Buchinist along the Seine, August, '99.
Each 9.5" x 6.2" print has an image on the left, including the title of La Fontaine's fable. On the right is the text. Each is mounted on stiff paper almost 16" x 11". The fables are FC, FS, GA, MM, OF, TB, TMCM, WL, and 2P. They use color very nicely and have a cartoon quality in their conception. My favorite is OF. In it there is a bathing-beauty frogette, and the about-to-explode frog wears swimming shorts that only emphasize the balloon-like character of his chest. I always knew it: the cheese lost by the crow to the fox is a Camembert! See also a collection of postcards using these same images.
1947? Fables of La Fontaine. Nineteen full-color postcards displaying favorite La Fontaine fables, all with a "Starling" signature at the bottom. 4 1/8" x 5 7/8". Imprimé en France. Paris: M. Barré and J. Doyez. €3 each from Collections N. et F. Murtin at Paris post card fair, Jan., '05. One other card, "L'Âne Vetu de la Peau de Lion," and extra copies of six cards for €4 each from Gérard Crucy, at the same Paris post card fair, Jan., '05. Extra copy of "Wolf versus Fox before Monkey" for € from bouquiniste Claire Leriche, Paris, June, '23.
The art is delightful, as in the fuller versions of the same images. The verso of each card fills the message section with a cursive version of the La Fontaine fable. At about the same time, Barré and Doyez also published a collection using children to illustrate La Fontaine's fables. Sadly many of the cards here are poorly cut. I like Starling's visual approach. See also a collection of larger prints using these same images.
