1904? Two French GA photographic postcards, perhaps from a series of six. A. Gonin. $20 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Extra of #3 for €7 from Dominique Chapelon, Yronde et Buron, at Paris Post Card Exhibition, Jan., '05. Full set of 4 cards sent in August of 1904 to the same addressee for $6 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20.
#6 is a remarkable card! I take it that her mode of dress marks the musical girl as a gypsy, while the mother wears a cross around her neck. The photographer caught one of the children at a great moment of crying! Otherwise, if there ever were posed scenes, here they are! Postmarked and dated in handwriting 1905 and 1904, respectively. The Cocq cards are all in very good condition. I am wondering if there are two cards filling in the text between our 3rd card here and the last.
1890? 13 colored French cards (and one extra) picturing scenes from Florian's fables. 2½ " x slightly more than 4". A Billon, Paris. $70 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne-Ricouart, France, March, '01. "La Guenon, le Singe et la Noix" and extras of "Roi Alfonse" and "L'Avare et son Fils" for €15 in St. Ouen, June, '19. $5 additional cards, presented here at the top of the table, for $5 each from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '20. Three more cards from Albert van den Bosch for €20 each, Jan., '23.
In these portrait-formatted small cards, a gold border surrounds the full-color picture in the upper three quarters of the card and the five or six lines quoted from Florian below. The title of the fable itself, with Florian's name in parentheses, is written across the golden bar separating the two portions of the picture side of the card. The monkey giving the laterna magica show cuts a vivid figure. Another striking image is presented by the two bald men grappling with each other. If one exchanges gold borders for blue, these cards are almost identical with those which I have listed under "Florian Blue Border." Four cards advertise "Chicorée Boulangère/Paguetage Croissant" on their picture side, while one advertises "Chocolat Ibled". All five of those cards have consistent advertising on their text sides. Four cards advertise Moka Beriot from Lille. One advertises Maison Salmon L. Tual-Salmon as a maker of chocolates and "conserves alimentaires." Two cards present short fable texts and advertise "Chicorée Extra a 'L'Écolière.'" Two cards simply present the fable text and refer to a second printer, A. Picard et Kaan. The most recent cards from Bertrand all advertise Beriot of Lille on the verso, two for their "Moka" and three for their "Chicorée Orientale."
1880? A white-colored platter 13" x almost 10½". Inside of a surrounding pattern of branches and grapes on the platter's ledge is an image featuring a fox and a stag, with other deer and trees in the background. The back of the platter shows a number of registry marks, the clearest an ink stamp working down from a crown through a circle surrounding a coat of arms with "BWM & Co" across it and "Fables" underneath it. Other marks include a diamond surrounding a large "R" with various letters and numbers, and an indented name, apparently Brown-Westhead, Moore to 1904). $65 from Shirley Perry, May, '00.
This is a large, heavy, and even formidable platter! I was baffled about which fable is presented here, but Cristel Aarts has made an excellent suggestion: this fable has the fox trying to talk the stag to come along to visit the lion. Shirley dates this and the smaller platter above to 1858-82. There are chip repairs at both "carrying" ends.
1980 A turtle jogger bookmark with the saying "Go for it!" Antioch Bookplate Co.
There is no hare here, but even the number given to this runner (2) suggests a head-to-head competition.
