2021 Capsules de champagne “Fables de La Fontaine.” Série Générique. Six champagne muselets picturing fables and Jean de La Fontaine.
Here is our third set of muselets. This series seems tied not to a particular vineyard but to the territory of Champagne.
1950? Colored cartoon postcard "Le Renard et le Bouc: Capitaine Renard allait de compagnie." JG. Série 14. €1.20 from Jean Bobelet, Le Chautay, France, through Ebay, June, '20.
The expressions on both characters' faces are appropriate for La Fontaine's fable of the fox and the goat, especially the goat's surprise at being left behind. I do not understand the reference to the fox as "capitaine." I do not yet understand "allait de compagnie." Perhaps "was traveling through the countryside" or maybe "was leaving the company of someone"?
2023? Canvas print of J.J. Grandville's FC. 11¾" x 17¾". Made in China. $15 from Judaicaman: Joshua Jacobovitz, Shilo, Israel, Jan., '25.
This is a handy way to show off an excellent illustration of an excellent fable. Perhaps most suitable for pinning to a corkboard in a classroom? I will explore uses of it in fable presentations.
1935? Two French cardboard chocolate boxes. 7” x 3⅜” picturing “Two Doves”; WL; MM; FC; and TMCM. 5” x 3⅞” featuring two mice opening a box of chocolate mice! Heavy cardboard. “Made in France.”
What a lovely find! The covers feature simple, charming multicolored scenes. This little pair of treasures comes from the parent of a student at a fellow Jesuit University, the University of San Francisco. And what about these mice – town and country? – who find themselves offered chocolate mice?!
1962?/90? Canadian Gothic. Volume 6 of "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle." Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Home Video. $9.95 at Washington Video, Georgetown, Dec., '91.
The "Aesop & Son" portion here is about a wolf and a dog. The wolf tries various ploys and finally steals Mauler the sheepdog's false teeth. Ultimately a lamb bites the wolf with false teeth. "Nothing dentured, nothing gained." The fable lasts 5:40. It comes about five minutes into the tape, after Dudley Doright delivers a bag of crabgrass to the inspector and Bullwinkle juggles--and before Simple Simon. We are a pretty good distance here from any Aesop I know!
1900? Cameo featuring WL. 1.5” wide. Ivory?
This is a delicate presentation of the scene, with the wolf clearlyi towering over the drinking lamb. Even the undergrowth on the wolf’s side is nicely detailed. A surprise find!
1980? Camembert Extra Fin cheese label. Fromage du Fin Renard. "Ce Qui Se Fait de Mieux." Litho. Myncke, Brussels. $8 from Dany Wolfs, Roeselare, Belgium, August, '00.
This circular label is a specimen of lovely colored printing. The crow, perched on the "Fromage" sign in the label, weeps visible tears. The fox walks away pleased, with a wheel of Camembert under his arm. There seems to be a number 41 stamped just above the crow's head
1960? 17 cards each illustrating in full color one fable of La Fontaine. Each is signed "Calvet-Rogniat." 3½" x 5½". Paris: Editions Educatives. Set for $100 from Alexandre Przopiorski de Cay, Lyon, France, June, '00. Five cards, including FG, for €5 apiece, from Brie Comte Robert at the Paris Post Card Exhibit, Jan., '05. Four cards from Elizabeth Sagar, including the new "Monkey and Cat," for £5 through eBay, May, '12. Extra of FG for €4 from Recto-Verso, Strasbourg, July, '19.
Strong, colorful presentations of the fables. The picture side includes the large illustration and a title beneath. The verso contains the title again, the text of the fable, La Fontaine's name, and the "Editions Educatives: Paris" logo. I enjoy the expression on the face of the bumpkin fisherman (note the striped stockings) as he hauls in his little fish. Also well portrayed is the greed of the man in GGE. The illustrator represents the notion of "belling the cat" physically by having the chief rat hold a bell. He interprets the scene very well by having all the rest of the mice march away. It may be hard to believe that the weasel got into the granary through that very small hole!
2008-2009 Five calendar wallet-cards illustrating La Fontaine fables. Creation et impression: Compiram-Simatis. Unsigned (original?) art: GA, OR, and "Coach and Fly" (2008) and UP and "Heron" (2009). Full-year calendar on the inside pages of the card. $4 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
Though similar to the calendar wallet-cards produced by Collection Kharbine-Tapabor in 1999, these cards have clear differences. These are twice as wide and are printed on heavier and less slick stock. The illustrations here have a softer style. Here all the three printed portions of the cards face the same direction; there three faces were perpendicular to the fourth.
1999 Three calendar wallet-cards illustrating La Fontaine fables. Collection Kharbine-Tapabor. Designs from 19th century illustrations by Gaston Gilibert, Job, and another. FS; 2P; and "The Mouse, the Cock, and the Cat." Three different advertisers on the back flap of the wallet card, various orientations. 1999 calendar on the inside pages of the card. $4 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
The illustrations on these slick, shiny fold-out cards about 3" x 4" are high resolution. The format is the same that will be used on similar cards by Compiram Simatis in 2008 and 2009 on heavier card stock at lower resolution.
1995 "Illustrations de Fables de Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695)." Thirteen calendar cards after the paintings of Claudine Suret-Canale originally published in 1990 by Vif Argent in "Fables de Jean de La Fontaine." 60 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricquart, France, August, '18.
There are thirteen cards, I believe, so that the verso of one card can match the front of another. Thus the title-card has the title on its front and the first illustration on its verso. The second card has the January calendar on its front and a second illustration on its verso. The last card has December on its front and the colophon – but no illustration – on its verso. I have just ordered Suret-Canale's Vif Argent book.
1985? "Calder Animals." Six different scenes done by Alexander Calder. Boxed, with envelopes. New York Public Library and Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. The date of the original drawings is 1931.
1992 Note cards: "Calder's Animals." 24 note cards with envelopes. New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Published by MOMA. Printed in the USA. 4" x 5.25". Unknown source.
I rejoiced when I first found these cards. Someone other than I recognized what a lively artist Calder is, particularly in his depiction of fables. The less happy thought here is that several of the images selected here present not fables but animals. The subjects are: "Camel"; "Lion and Gnat"; "Horse and Lion"; Dog, Sheep, and Wolf"; "A Stag Drinking"; and OF. Of the original 24 cards, we still have 16, with each of the six types represented. I offer here what seem to me the best two cards. Compare these cards with the yellow Calder cards also in our collection.
