1995? Crow Hand Puppet. Folkmanis, Inc., Emeryville, CA. Gift of Maureen Hester, Dec., ‘11
The tag of this critter is lost, if there ever was one. This puppet allows not only a hand in the body and head of the crow, but a hand in each of his wings. The lovely beady black eyes are lost in the lush feather covering of this creature!
1939? Crow and Pitcher Flower-Pot-Hanger. Wooden, four pieces, painted crème and black. 12" x 10½" x 3". Liberty, Maine: Liberty Giftcrafters.
Now here is something of whose existence I was simply unaware! A slightly torn slip pasted to the wall side describes this, apparently, as "Crow & Pitcher Flower Vasette for Decorative Hanging Plants & Cut Flowers and Artificial Flowers. Copyright 1939 by Liberty Giftcrafters." There is then a picture of the crow and pitcher above the "Legend of the Crow & Pitcher from Aesop's Fables." The text used here does not come from any version I recognize. Maine Emporium describes it as vintage folk art.
2002? Cross-stitch "Easy Does it!" TH. Felt over a board. 8” x 10”.
Images depict a hare and a tortoise above and below, respectively, the rather unusual moral “Easy Does it!” sewn into the center of the image.
2004 Cross stitch of FC "Wrought by the Hand." Dorothy Unangst. 9½" x 7½". $5 from dcmanno through Ebay, Nov., '02.
Very nice work! In this case, the crow is perched on top of a roof rather than in a tree. The composition is lovely. Trees on either side frame the house together with the two characters. Beautifully framed.
1970? Crocheted doily of "The Fox and the Goat."
Here is very delicate work. The fox has tried to talk the young goat into opening the door and has been rebuffed. Is "loup" here misspelled "loop"? I am not sure how a piece like this would have been used. My, how Aesop gets around!
1890? Nine Creil & Montereau plates. Lebeuf Milliet (Mujjet?). Porcelaine Opaque. Illustrating named fables of La Fontaine. €160 from Stéphane Lavalley, Feb., '22.
I think I recognize these illustrations of La Fontaine, particularly TH and GA, but I cannot name the artist. The outer circular frame and dentils just inside them remain the same throughout the series. How many might the series include? Lebeuf and Milliet became owners of the faience works in Creil and Montereau in the mid 1800's. The seal on the back of each plate proclaims the gold medals won in 1834, 1839, and 1844.
1900? Set of 12 monochrome -- brown against a cream background -- Creil Montereau plates. Each numbered plate offers an application or human occurrence of La Fontaine's fables. €100 from assietteparlante21 through Ebay, Sept. '21.
This set seems identical in form with the four colored plates I found earlier. One (Fool Selling Wisdom) is cracked and repaired. A lovely set, full of wit! See a further use of these designs under Porcelaines Champs-Elysée.
1979 "The Fox and the Grapes." Sculptured by Herman L. Deaton. Hand Painted on Cold Cast Bronze. No. 1048 of a Limited Edition of 9750 plates. 7¼" in diameter and 1 inch deep. $26 from Gerald Kaylarian, Seattle, through Ebay, July, '99.
Now this is a weighty object! "Plate" here is no longer something one eats off of! The spatial presentation of the fable is very good. This fox cannot get at these grapes, but the hill lures him into trying it. I have seen this piece offered several times on Ebay but never anywhere else. Are there more plates in a series?
