Carvings, Statues, & Figurines

2023? Figurine of tortoise and hare walking arm in arm. Resin? 2½" high. Made in China. $10 from Judaicaman: Joshua Jacobovitz, Shilo, Israel, Jan., '25. Two things are curious about this small pair. One is that they seem happy buddies. What a lovely interpretation of the fable! The runner's numbers are unusual: why three digits apiece?

2015? Small Metal Figurine of Hare Riding Tortoise. 1.5" high, 1.75" long. Unknown source. The figurine, not immediately findable on the web, touches a question I have regularly had: Why is the hare riding the tortoise? The pose has nothing to do with the common Aesopic fable, but occurs frequently as a representative of that story. Might there be a different story from some other tradition?

2000 WSC with a Lamb Statuette. "Once Upon A Time": Young. Made in China. 4.25" long; 3.25" high. Unknown source. An unusually successful depiction for this fable. The size discrepancy has the wolf overwhelming the lamb. The overlay of the sheepskin is more convincing than in many depictions.

1979 Tortoise Running Relay Race. Schmid 0215. Pewter. Made in USA. Unknown source. What an energetic turtle! I searched a long time on the web to find a companion figure of a hare. Perhaps this is none. After all, this turtle is running a relay race!

In 1988 and 1989, Funrise marketed as "Rhymekins" in various packaging a number of storybook plastic figurines together with matching storybooks. Some of these are fables, while others are nursery rhymes or fairytales. Maximum height or length 4". Made in China. Except for one, the source is unknown. I am surprised to see fables so well represented among these figurines. TH, LM, and TMCM are all featured, as well "The Emperor Without Clothes." As I rediscovered these figurines, I found three of them apt for fables but then learned they are designed to go with fairytales. Now I have to find the Rhymekins TMCM pair! LM: Scale was clearly not a goal here! "The Emperor Without Clothes": I am pleased that they thought that meant that he was in his underwear! He originally came with the truth-telling child. He has disappeared, but we can hope that he has not disappeared in our life! TH: Both figures are lively. The tortoise, whose source I happen to know, has a great smile! Tortoise $3 from Frances Thompson, Fremont, CA, through Ebay, July, '00. Frances writes that Funrise put out a line of storybook characters from fairy tales and fables. Now I have found many of them! These three figures are part of the Rhymekins sets. As I discovered them, I thought easily of each of them as a fable character. Does not the little fellow on the left – who turned out to be Jack from "Jack and Jill" -- perfectly represent the attitude of the rich man who buried his treasure and then discovered that it was stolen? And could not that middle character be the farmer whose goose suddenly produced golden eggs? (I wonder if he is the giant or Jack.) And that little fellow on the right: Could he not be La Fontaine's "Gregoire" returning the sack of cash to the financier? For his makers, he was Jack, with his bag of seeds.

2010? Glass block with 3-D engraving of FG. 3" x 2" square. $14.99 from ellenmagpie through Ebay, Dec., '24. One extra copy. My, what one can find if one only looks! And now, years after finding this little treasure, I had no recollection where I found it, but I finally found one on Ebay. Beautifully executed!

1995? Yugoslavian set of 5 dolls including, on the outside doll, a representation of FS. $20.50 from Diane Woodword, Glen Ann, MD, through eBay, July, '05. The elaborate development of the characters' clothing on the outside presentation of FS suggests the folktale that FS is in Eastern Europe. We see the moment in which the stork presents food in a tall vase to the fox. The artist chooses great local clothing for these animals! The stories represented on the other four dolls are presumably folktales. The smallest seems to represent a mustached man about to strike a dragon. The second smallest features a goat and a lobster. The third has a fox holding afish riding on a wolf, and the fourth pictures a woman holding a staff and a fisherman in a boat. In each case, there is a concern to fill the "empty" side of the doll with engaging landscape consistent with the scene on the front.

1990? Two dimensional Fève illustrating GGE. €2 from collecstore 13 through Ebay, March, '24. The golden egg helps to define the not-so-easy-to-define hen here. I continue to be amazed at how many different sets of fèves there are. They keep appearing!

1995 "Aesop's Fables": "This is a Little Wooden Book." 054. Wooden book containing four fable character pairs. DS; TMCM; GA; and TH. Each piece signed "Anita." Unknown source and time of acquisition. What delightful, exquisite work! The eight pieces fit perfectly into the little "book" with its pivoting cover. Exquisitely cut and painted. I am unsure whether I have correctly identified as the hare in TH the character who proclaims "Can't -- too busy."

2000 Statuette of FG. 2½" x 3" x 4¼" high. Made in China. Dundee, MI: Young's Inc. $5.50 from David Fulk, Mt. Airy, NC, Jan., '01. How nice to see that people keep on making things reminiscent of fables! The box even tells the fable on two of its sides.

1998? Crystal Fruit Tree. 3½" in diameter at its base and 3½" high. Made in China. FineGift. $2.95 from Buyers & Sellers, Fairchild, WI, through Ebay, July, '00. Two little foxes with golden ears, noses, and tails read up toward the purplish grapes, which are surrounded by green leaves hanging from tendril-heavy vines. The mirrored base is beveled.

1997 Figures of walking tortoise (#7) and sleeping hare (#13) with runners' numbers. The former is 2½" long, while the latter is 3" long. $5 each from Fredda Ecker of Rainbow Miniatures at NY flea market, April, '97. On a Sunday in Chelsea, I wondered if I might find something. Here is my find!