Desktop Items

1869? "Two Rats and an Egg" Inkwell by/after Antonin Aigon. Unknown source and date of acquisition. This is a very heavy desktop accessory. The inkwell is shaped like the lower two-thirds of an egg, and so it fits very well with La Fontaine's charming fable about the collaborative effort of two rats to bring an egg to their nest. According to La Fontaine's fable, one got himself under the egg, and the other pulled him by the tail. Together they got the job done! Here carrier rat is not as in most interpretations, I believe, under the egg but rather beside it. I have found the object on the web. Christie's, presumably for the original, auctioned it for $863. Drouout is offering a piece clearly labeled as "After Antonin Aigon." Which kind do we have? That question lies behind my question mark concerning the original date of this item.

1975? Blotter advertising "Super Biscottes Sablées Saint Honoré" illustrating DW. Green and red on yellow blotter paper. 11¼" x 3⅛". $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '03. This blotter -- if indeed it is a blotter -- has an unusual size and shape. The cartoon has a dog luxuriating -- on bread cushions? -- and smoking a cigar. "Les biscottes qui honorent votre table!" "Vente reservée a la boulangerie." "Garanties exemptaes de tous produits chimiques." These cookies have everything!

1970? Blotter from "Aux Arts Ménagers," that is, household arts. Apparently this store offers heating, furniture, paper goods, toys. Saint-Brieuc. Four panels picturing La Fontain's "The Heron." $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '05. This is one of the simplest French blotters I have found. The four panels trace four stages of the heron's dining day. Together they demonstrate the fate of picky taste! A quick check could not find the store or firm operating any more.

1970? Buvard offert par Semelflex, a maker of shoes. With a trace-the-dots painting of La Fontaine's shoemaker from "The Shoemaker and the Financier." Premiere Serie C: Bottillon d'Enfant. Mesmer Pub. Imp. Sézanne. 5¼" x 8¼". $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02. Green, red, and black highlight the face of a man and a child's shoe. When—as here—someone connects the dots, the delightful shoemaker appears, with his pipe in one hand and his hammer in the other. The blotter's invitation is well phrased: "Trace a line in the sequence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc… and you will designate the shoemaker whom La Fontaine let sing from morning until evening."

1970? KIFO Buvard N. 3 "La Cigale et la Fourmi." Les Fables de la Fontaine. KIFO does cleaning and maintenance work. E 12 LePoivre Thellier á St. Venant (PDC). $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02. This pleasant blotter in red and green on a white background shows the ant and cicada conversing at the front door. "If the cicada had stopped to think, she would have been able to sing and even dance with the savings realized by having used the range of KIFO products." The bottom of the blotter invites people to look forward to the fourth in the series.

1967? A large (8" x 6⅜") green and black blotter on a cream background. "Le Chat, la belette....Version 67." R.E.P.T.T. Paris: Kergy. $7 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. This new – 67th! – version of the fable involves, as usual, the Jean Lapin, ousted from his home, and the squatting weasel who ousted him. As usual, the two appear before the judge cat, here presented in a formal court scene. Here, however, the cat does not eat both litigants. Rather, the cat dismisses the case of the weasel and, even better, tells her that she does not need to be a squatter. All she has to do is set up an account with the post office to save up for lodging. It is that easy!

1965? "Le Corbeau et le Renard" blue and white blotter. "Bon Buvard." 5¼" x 8¼". Pates aux Oeufs Frais Pèr' Lustucru. Grenoble. Paris: E.G.F.P. $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '03. The blotter shows the fox running away with a large cheese in his mouth. The text on this blotter is a further advertisement: "Enfants Sages. Pour obtenir trios belles fables illustreés en couleurs envoyez-nous avec votre adresse, 8 Pèr' Lustucru découpés sur nos boites à damiers bleus."

1965? "le corbeau et le renard" (La Fontaine)" colored blotter. 7¼" x 4¼". La Laiterie Parisienne. Paris: E.G.F.P. $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02. The blotter quotes the first two lines of La Fontaine's fable: "Master Crow perched on a tree held in his beak a cheese" and then adds "It was, of course, a 'Fromage Sélectionné' from The Parisienne Dairy. The best!" The illustration in green, brown, yellow, and orange is striking.

1960? "Le loup et l'agneau." Dauré Apéritif Naturel. 5" x 7¾". $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '02. Extra copy in only good condition from Dany Wolfs, Roeselare, Belgium, May, '01. Red ink on a cream background. This fable builds on La Fontaine's WL. Here the wolf proclaims to the lamb as the latter scampers away: "You are lucky that I have not yet taken my Dauré this morning!" Is the point that water comes only after a Dauré aperitif opens the way for it?

1960? Les Vins des Caves du Plessis Buvard N. 1. FG. Les Fables de la Fontaine. About 8¼" x 5¼". St. Venant. $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02. In a lovely design using black, green and red inks, the fox claims, as usual, that the grapes are too green. The blotter's text agrees but adds "but the wines of the Plessis Caves are wonderful!" The blotter also invites one to ask for the whole series of blotters at one's local provider of wines. I would love to do that!

1959 GA blotter from Compagnies Françaises d'Assurances du Groupe Phénix. Concours du 140e Anniversaire. 8" x 5 3/8". $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02. Green, black, and red paint the familiar scene, with winter's leaves sweeping about in the winds. This is one of the few blotters I have with writing on the verso. In fact there is a great deal of writing. It explains a competition for kids between seven and fourteen years old. They are to draw the phoenix of classical mythology for a variety of specific prizes. The deadline for entries (December 31, 1959) gives a rare help to someone dating a blotter like this one. I think that this is my first fable item announcing a contest!

1958? "Le Fou et le Sage." #28 from Snels Biscottes de Luxe au Lait. 5¾" x 6¾". St. Ouen (Seine). Créat. I.M., Paris. $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, May, '02. A large colored cartoon dominates this blotter. La Fontaine XII 2 is, in Spector's edition, "Un Fou et un Sage," whereas this blotter has "Le Fou et le Sage." This is clearly the fable, a replay of Aesop's rewarding the fool who threw a stone at him and then encouraging him to throw one at a richer man for a bigger reward. Here the well-dressed man has, I gather, a coin in his hand, while the fool has a large rock that he is ready to hurl. The latter is marked as a fool, I think, by the cooking pan he wears for a hat.