Cloth

2000? TH 10” Hoop Cloth. Contrast. Small Fry #7032. 13” x 12.5”. Unknown source. The tortoise here is on roller skates and wears an airman’s googles and cap. He is eating an ice-cream cone! The hare sleeps on with a piece of straw in his mouth. There is a matching pattern in the tortoise’s back and cap and the hare’s sweater and shoes.

2000? WC Mola from Panama. Dimensions. Unknown source. This lively piece of work can be hard to decipher, at least at first. Are those frogs behind and under the wolf? I find this work breathtaking!

2000? TH Mola from Panama. 17" x 14.7". Unknown source. My what a lively, colorful piece of work! At first, I thought that this duo was musical, but on further inspection the hare is eating a carrot. And is the tortoise carrying a basket? In any case, they do not seem to be racing!

1990? Three Margot de Paris Needlepoint Patterns: TH(#271); FC (#272); and LM (#274). Plus two extra copies of FC. 9.75” x 23.5”. Unknown source. Lively presentations of each fable. They follow the same pattern in arranging the characters horizontally. One can see one example of TH completed in our collection under “Cross Stitch” and the other two under "Canvas Tapestries."

1900? Single tapestry of fables of La Fontaine. 8” x 8.5’. Total width 10”. Unknown source. As in the matching pair of tapestries, this long, slender, exquisite tapestry contains six fable scenes. In order, they are WL; “The Fox and the Cat”; “The Hare and the Frogs”; TH; DS; and “Two Goats.” These are the same six subjects – and the same six images – as on Tapestry B above, but in different order. And the canvas backing of the tapestry remains at the sides of this tapestry. It is again noteworthy that none of these subjects or images occur on the broader single tapestry above.

1900? Two matching tapestries of fables of La Fontaine. 8” x 8’. Unknown source. Each of these long, slender, exquisite tapestries contains six fable scenes. The style is similar to that on our wider tapestry, but strangely none of the twelve scenes presented here are the same as the seven there. Two of the images here are unclear to me. I would love to have help in deciphering them! The first image here shows them as they stood at the entrance to an on-campus exhibit of the fable collection, "Thundering Tortoises and Horrified Hares," in January, '18.

1980? Red and white runner featuring ten fable scenes. 44.5" x 14.5”. Source unknown. This piece of cloth features two rows of distinctive fable scenes. One row features, from left to right, FC; "The Heron"; MM; TH; and WL. If we turn it over and again proceed from left to right, we have "The Secret"; CJ; FS; "The Hare and the Frogs"; and MSA. Some scenes are more skillfully rendered than others, but overall it is a lovely piece!

1980? “Aesop’s Fables Thomas Bewick 1784” hand print by Patterson Fabrics of NY. About 3’1” square. Source unknown. Four rows of four rectangles each. My attempts to learn something about Patterson Fabrics have not been successful. Bewick may suffer from being enlarged from his exquisite woodcuts.

2004 Unframed Cross stitch of FC. 11.2" x 7.5". Image 6.6" x 4.25". Unknown source. Imagine my surprise when I found an exact copy unframed. Can we assume that a pattern was somewhere published and many people followed the pattern? Like the framed copy above, this is very nice work! As there, 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.

2000? TH Castell Coch Linen Tea Towel. 55% linen, 45% cotton. Made in Ireland. 17.3” x 13.5”. Source unknown. As the web tells us, the design is inspired by the wall paintings in the octagonal drawing room of Castell Coch, a Victorian Gothic Revival castle in Wales. Perhaps the most fascinating feature of this colorful presentation, based on murals at Castell Coch, is the frog perched above the race with a bottle in his hand. At first I thought he might have bet on the wrong racer. After viewing more of the Castell Coch wallpaper, I believe that he is the quack doctor who promises to heal others, even though he cannot heal himself.

2000? Cloth presentation of Edward Bawden’s “Aesop’s Fables: The Hare and the Tortoise.” Created from Bawden’s color linocut, published by Curwen Prints. Cloth from the Royal Academy of Arts. 28” x 18”. Unknown source. This lovely piece has brought some answers and then more questions. I was surprised to find that it is done from a famous, rare, expensive linocut by Bawden. I am surprised that this cloth is 18” x 28”, whereas Bawden’s original was 18” x 22”. One question has not been answered. What kind of cloth is this? Dishcloth? Hanging? Are we meant to begin from the lower left to follow the back-and-forth route? The hare moves from energy to sleep, while the tortoise does not change much along the way. At the end he awaits the hare. Well done!

1980? Red and white runner featuring fable figures. 8’ x 8.3”. Source unknown. This long piece of cloth features three repeated fable scenes – WL; FC; and TH – in that order around a central scene of a wolf with a young woman carrying a pitcher. Red Riding Hood perhaps?