2000? Pin. Fox Serves Stork Food. U13K. 1" x 1.4". USSR. Unknown source.
Some research online strong suggests that this is one of a set of fairy tale pins and that no other fables belong to the set. FS in Russia became a highly developed folktale. I am curious about what sort of food the fox here is bringing the stork.
1920? Thirteen trade cards 2¾" x 4⅛". Pilules Laxative Lucas. Colored illustrations by (H.) Rougeron-Vignerot and (Ferdinand) Bac. Paris: Imp. Des Arts et Manufactures. Different advertisements for Pilules Lucas on each verso.
For small illustrations apparently done cheaply, the effect is remarkably good here. In DLS, is the young mule-master actually smiling over the mule's antics? The terrified man who has seen a camel for the first time is well done! The scolding schoolmaster is well done. The signature of Rougeron-Vignerot is hard to decipher here. I appreciated help on the web. Both the position and the posture of the wolf looking down on the lamb just emerging from the water are well chosen. This wolf also carries a dagger. The advertisements on the verso carry lively headlines like "Mort Subite"; "Vive la Liberté"; and "Le Secret d'un Centenaire." These cards duplicate a sete of "Bon Point" cards listed elsewhere.
2010? Pillow or cushion cover illustrating “The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk.” 28.6” x 19”. Unknown source.
I presume that this is a cushion or pillow cover, since it has an opening for something to be put inside. Illustrating this fable is rather unusual!
2000? Pillow featuring a fox and four sets of grapes. 16" square. Unknown source and date of acquisition.
For me, the great feature of this lovely pillow is the fabric that makes up the body of the fox. Its red material has a floral pattern. The stitching establishing the fox's face is also excellent. I hope to discover where we found this. Might we even know its maker?
2022? Twelve pillow covers illustrating a variety of fable characters. 18” x 18”. Made in China. $7.50 each through Joshua Jacobovitz, Jan., ’25.
There is something strange about almost every member of this unusual set of pillow covers. Almost each cover illustrates characters from standard Aesop’s fables, but few get the relationship of the characters right. The fox sits in the midst of grapes here while the fable has him unable and even trying in vain to get them. The fable has the cheese in the crow's beak, and the fox cleverly gets the crow to sing. Here they share cheese or -- perhaps in a deliberate parody -- the fox offers the crow a piece of cheese! Further, what is the fox doing with rooster's claws rather than fox's paws?
2020? Pillow cover with pillow material illustrating FC. Sharon Turner. 16" x 16".
This is ebullient art at its best! Only the crow is slightly understated, while everything else in the scene is richly developed! Well done!
2000? Pillow “Les Grenouilles Qui Demandent un Roi.” 30” x 19.5”. 100% polyester. Made in China; printed in USA. Unknown source.
The design here is taken from a French match box. I am not sure that expanding so small an image makes for a defined image on a large object like this, but the king stork and his victim are all too clear!
1970? Pillar candlestick based on Krylov's fable "Quartet." 9" high.
This is a substantial candlestick. It may be the first in our collection. The fable is a great one to put onto a pillar. The four "musicians" keep blaming their positions for their poor music. They do not recognize the real reason they are poor musicians!
2015? Pill Box. Cover features colored detail from Arthur Rackham's "The Owl and the Birds." Perhaps from che655 on Etsy for $9.99, who is selling it for that price now in Dec., '24.
I had to do a little online checking to find out that this is in fact a pill box. Might I have bought this through Ebay rather than Etsy? Rackham's work went out of copyright in 1989. It is a fruitful source of designs for work like this.
1990? Pig puppet with attached Aesop's fable "The Pig and the Sheep." Puppets with a Tale: Folktails: Folkmanis, Inc., Emeryville, CA. Made in Korea. Gift of John and Susan Carlson, Christmas, 1991.
The tale on the card attached to this puppet tells of the pig who happened among sheep and was upbraided for all his squealing when the shepherd caught him. The pig answers the sheep: “He nly wants you for your wool, but he wants me for bacon.” A clever manipulator can get fingers into all four legs and the face.
