2011 €5 coin commemorating the year of the rabbit. On the verso is Jean de La Fontaine with the 12 animals of the zodiac.
This is a nice presentation of La Fontaine. Apparently commemorative coins are a way for governments to raise funds. This one comes in a lovely holder. I am not even sure I can figure out how to open the holder or close it again, and so I will not!
1930? Colored handbill displaying DW with La Fontaine's text. #9. Verso is an advertisement for Léon Tisserand dealer of shoes, Dijon. 5½" x 8". Printed by Imageries Réunies de Jarville-Nancy. €3.45 from croquette999 on Ebay, Sept., '23.
This is a lovely rendering of the DW scene, nicely conceived and well colored. The pudgy guard-dog tells an alluring story to the starving wolf, who listens at leisure.
1950? Two full-color hidden picture fable cards presenting DW and "The Robbers and the Ass." "La Fontaine." $14 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Six more cards from Bertrand for $5 each, all advertising "Chichorée Extra "A la Menagère" from Duroyon & Ramette in Cambrai. Printed by L. & A. Nisse, in Croix (Nord), Sept., '20. Ten further cards, including several extras, for €10 from Grenadines Sari, Paris, through eBay. FC and "Rabbit and Frogs" for €4.66 each from Bernard Majdecki, Dijon, Jan., '22.
Each card has a fable title and "La Fontaine" at the top, a full-length colored image, and a question at the bottom, asking "Where is the wolf?" and "Where is the ass?" I did not find these easy! There is nothing on the verso. Click on the card to see a bigger version and on "Resolved" to see a solution. This series seems to overlap in its designs with the our "Mono Poeders Monochrome Hidden Picture Cards." 2½" x 4". French apparently knows these cards as "Les Belles Devinettes."
1960? Colored fable card advertising "Collection Biscottes Clément" and presenting "The Coach and the Fly" by Jean Mercier.
I recognized this image immediately. It was done by Jean Mercier and appeared on menus for Compagnie General Transatlantique. In fact, that menu appeared in the Joslyn Museum exhibit of this collection in 2018. Its most unusual feature is the oversized fly apparently sitting on the paper. The fly is so insignificant, despite his own ideas of his accomplishment, that he does not appear otherwise in the image. One is tempted to whisk him away in order to look at the picture! The printer's name ends in something like "ugges" in Paris and Nantes. In an earlier existence this card lost that bit of its printer's name. The title and text of the fable make up the verso of the card.
1925? Thirty small (2⅛" x 2¾") numbered colored "Collection Ibled" trade cards illustrating fables of La Fontaine.
Simple thin cards with nothing on the verso. The image side of the card has "Collection Ibled" at the top along with a number ranging from #304 to #582. The style is sometimes reminiscent of Benjamin Rabier. The design of the illustrations of these cards does not replicate the design on the "Collection Ibled" black-and-white cards, which are otherwise in the same format.
1925? Nineteen small (2⅛" x 2¾") numbered black-and-white "Collection Ibled" trade cards illustrating fables of La Fontaine. Five cards a gift of Denise Debuigne, Chantepic, France. Fourteen cards for $90 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
Simple thin cards with nothing on the verso. The image side of the card has "Collection Ibled" at the top along with a number ranging from 375 to 531. The style is sometimes reminiscent of Benjamin Rabier.
1900? 6 black-and-white portrait postcards featuring fables of La Fontaine. Signed by G. Dascher. "Collection Charier, edit., Saumur. Royer et Cie, imp -phot, Nancy." St. Ouen, August, '15. One extra copy of Le Singe et le Léopard. Extra copy of "Le Singe et le Léopard" for €7 from Bartko-Reher, April, '21.
The characteristic feature of this set is a rectangular or near-rectangular inset "Fables de La Fontaine" and the title of the individual card. The two cards not signed by Dascher seem to be signed by "HBGI." They are in a different style. These two are WC and FC. The Dascher cards are "The Fox and the Goat"; "The Thieves and the Ass"; "The Monkey and the Leopard"; and "The Wolf Become a Shepherd." A trade card from Nouvelles Galeries in Saumur is so similar that I include it here as well as there for comparison.
1900? Collar stud displaying WC on black material. .75” x .89” x .5”. Unknown source.
I have tried to use some glare to show the miniature scene on the face of this piece. The rounded back does not seem to be separable. Might the black stone be onyx?
1930? Pochoir gouache of FC by Coleth. Matted. €20 from chez.Daniela through Ebay, Sept., '21.
The stencil technique, gouache coloring, and art deco style come together wonderfully here for Coleth. "Maitre du Corbeau" is the tipoff here. The stylish young woman is the fox getting something out of the not-so-beautiful old gentleman. From what I could find on Coleth, this figure seems utterly typical of the artist's work. I find the illustration visually captivating
