1929 “BF.” Matted color illustration b R. de la Nézière. Image 6.4” x 8.24”. Whole piece 10.8” x 13.8”. LA and Washington, DC: BungaloChic, UrbanCottage Accents.
Typically delightful Nézière work! This bird is a plump fat cat with a large belly and all the accoutrements: walkng stick, gloves, pnce-nez, cigarette holder, and hat. He cuts a figure. Unfortunately for him, that is all that he does!
1986 Honore Daumier, "Les voleurs et l'âne" (vers 1848-50). Paris: Musée d'Orsay. Imprimé en France. Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 1986.
While the two thieves fight over possession of the horse, an unknown third steals it from them. Part of the artistry of this work is that the fight is highlighted in the picture as it is in the experience of the two thieves, while what goes on in the background of the picture--out of the picture's focus and out of theirs--turns out to be more important.
1980 Das La Fontaine-Tarock des Leipziger Kaufmanns Peter Friedrich Ulrich. Double boxed. Leipzig: Hermann Haack.
Taroc developed in Italy, apparently as early as the 1300's. It used a pack of 73 or 74 cards: the 52 we have come to call standard plus 21 or 22 tarot cards as trumps. This deck has the clown as the first of those 21 and then fables as the other 20. It has four picture cards in each suit plus 10 plain cards; the accompanying booklet explaining the history of this deck claims that this deck contains 78 cards, but I believe that the total is really 77. The date of the original pack of cards seems to be about 1780. This is a pleasant facsimile done in the German Democratic Republic. 2¼" x 4¼". Click on any one of the lower three images -- of cards -- to see it enlarged.
