2020? Set of five fable matryoshka dolls. St. Petersburg: Marzipan.
Here is a lovely set of matryoshkas illustrating five of Krylov's fables. Found by chance for about $50. I presume that it is one of a kind because the "Livemaster" website now marks this item as "sold." FC is well known to us, as is WL. The third doll features the ass and the nightingale. The ass tells the nightingale in the third that he could learn a few things from the rooster! In the fourth, a clever pug gets his reputation as courageous by seeming to take on a fight with an elephant that he knows will never happen. The elephant will not have anything to do with him! The last is the monkey with spectacles on the top of his head instead of in front of his eyes.
As the signature on the bottom of the largest doll indicates, this set is handcrafted. A large oval scene in the largest part of the doll presents scenes from FC; WL; "The Ass and the Nightingale"; "The Elephant and the Pug"; and "The Monkey and Spectacles." The stupid ass asks the nightingale to sing, and the bird's song enraptures every creature in the forest. The ass praises his song and then tells he could learn something from the rooster's beautiful singing. The knowing nightingale simply leaves without answering a comment so ludicrous. The little pug barks at the huge elephant with impunity because he knows that the elephant will not bother to retaliate. The elderly monkey is advised that glasses could help her failing vision. She gets several pair and puts them all over her body but finds that they do not help and dashes them against the wall. Here she seems to have them on upside down.
1999 Marvic Textiles "Les Fables De La Fontaine" Toile Printed 100% Cotton Fabric. 18.3" x 23.3". Unknown source.
This is a smaller section of the same pattern as just above, including only the basic pattern of eight fable scenes. The hue here has more red than the larger section's brown. Someone has hemmed this segment very nicely with gold thread. This smaller segment lacks the identifying signature of the larger piece above.
1999 Marvic Textiles "Les Fables De La Fontaine" Toile Printed 100% Cotton Fabric. 2 Yds+35.5". F-231.
This is a serious piece of cloth and a wonderful addition to the collection! The repeated pattern includes eight fables, four to a column, with one column featuring ovals and hexagons, and the other circles and octagons. The eight fables are, in one column, "Elephant and Pug"; "The Fox and the Bust"; BS; and "Two Bulls and the Frogs." The other column features "The Oyster and the Litigants"; "The Horse and the Ass"; "The Man and the Satyr"; and "The Lioness and the She-Bear." The cloth is beautifully executed and in excellent condition. My guess at its age is pure speculation! My thanks to the seller for providing a rich array of views of this impressive cloth! Click on the cloth to see some various views of this lovely piece!
1950 "Les Fables Célèbres." Two thin-paper handbills illustrating four fables of La Fontaine and advertising La Marie-Rose, "La Mort Parfumée des Poux!" 5" x 7½". $3 each from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '03. One illustrating TB, apparently earlier, for $5 from the same source, May, '05. FG from Marie-Rose for $6 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
"Handbill" is my best guess as to what these two very lightweight sheets are. The first presents FC, TH, LM, and MM, while the second has WL, "Le Laboureur et ses Enfants," GA, and OF. I never thought of using fables to advertise medication to kill lice! One should use La Marie-Rose on one's children every Thursday, so that one can send proper children to school. The quips on the back touting the virtues of La Marie-Rose are a riot! The earlier handbill illustrating TB proclaims that Marie-Rose Lotion is not greasy and does not stain. It wards off the insects that bring all sorts of diseases!
1955 Marianne Moore Reading Her Poems and Fables from La Fontaine. NY: Caedmon TC 1025. Unknown source.
Fables are the second side of this record: FC; DS; GGE; “The Farmer and the Adder”; “The Fox and the Goat”; “The Scythian Philosopher”; and SW.
1990? Three Margot de Paris Needlepoint Patterns: TH(#271); FC (#272); and LM (#274). Plus two extra copies of FC. 9.75” x 23.5”. Unknown source.
Lively presentations of each fable. They follow the same pattern in arranging the characters horizontally. One can see one example of TH completed in our collection under “Cross Stitch” and the other two under "Canvas Tapestries."
2006 Mardi Gras dubloon showing TH. Mobile: Order of Myths. "The Fables of Aesop."
A very happy tortoise crosses the finish line while a hurrying hare tries to catch up. The verso offers a fascinating scene. Folly has been chasing Death; at the end of Mardi Gras parade, Folly defeats Death. The Order of Myths was founded in 1867, though the maker of this coin thought it was 1868. The Order of Myths was the oldest order to celebrate Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama.
