Household Items

1920? Heavy drape with Latin phrases including “lupus in fabula” and “lupus et agnus.” Backed. 4’4.5” wide; 4’1” high. Unknown source. I have found several instances of this heavy material on the web. I will quote one of them since I know little about this material: “baroque style, neo-classical style golden fabric. High quality material. The Latin here is curious. I believe I acquired the drape because I noticed the two phrases above; perhaps I assumed that it was fable texts. It is rather a hodgepodge mostly constituted by frequently cited Latin aphorisms. Two of the easiest to recognize are Descartes’ “Cogito ergo sum” and "Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi." The latter is cited in a less known form that our common “Et tu, Brute.” The standard Latin for WL is “Ad rivum eundem lupus et agnus venerant, siti compulsi.” Other recognizable phrases here are “amicus magis necessarius quam ignis et aqua,” “Socratem iustissimum temperantissimumque omnium Graecorum antiqui existimaverunt,” and "Non faciunt meliorem equum aurei freni.”

1950? Fable Pillow Cover made of Marvic Cotton Fabric. 15.75" square. Unknown source. Here are six scenes from Marvic's pattern of eight scenes, shown in this collection under "Individual Cloths." Here we have pictured "The Fox and the Bust"; "The Traveler and the Satyr"; BS; "The Bear and the Grieving Lioness"; "The Fighting Bulls and the Frogs"; and "The Oyster and the Litigants." Plain tan backing.

2005 Thank-you Rubber Stamp “No act of kindness however small is ever wasted.” Aesop. 2.2" x 2.6". Berkeley, CA: Penny Black, Inc. Source unknown. I remember seeing this in a Bay Area book and card store. This quotation is used frequently. I suspect it comes from either AD or LM, but I do not know in whose translation. There are, in Lloyd Daly’s literal translation of Perry, two similar references, both (296 and 395) dealing with the same story of a farmer who frees an eagle from a snake and is repaid with kindness. 296 has “That those who have a good service at the hands of another should repay the kindness, for the good that you do will be repaid you.” 395 has more simply “Kindness awaits the benefactor.” “The Hen and the Swallow” (192) seems to say the opposite: “So wickedness is not to be overcome no matter how much it is met with kindness.” See also the MM stamp under “Toys and Games.”

2000 FG Refrigerator Magnet. Classical Creations. Made in USA. 2” x 3”. Source unknown. It is so tempting to browse to see whose traditional presentation is “borrowed” here! The presentation is indeed classical in the surroundings it gives to the scene.

2010? Pillow or cushion cover illustrating “The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk.” 28.6” x 19”. Unknown source. I presume that this is a cushion or pillow cover, since it has an opening for something to be put inside. Illustrating this fable is rather unusual!

2000? Four refrigerator magnets made from monochrome illustrations by Arthur Rackham. 2" x 3". Clear acrylic. Unknown source. Most refrigerator magnets that I have found so far in the world of fables are flexible slabs of magnetic material. These are clear cases formed around a copy of a Rackham illustration with a piece of that magnetic material on the back of the ensemble. The choice of subjects here is quite unusual! Maybe the artist was a lover of wolves!

2022? Four wall hangings of images lithographed on tin. About 8” x 11½”. $15 each from Joshua Joshua Jacobovits, Shiloh, Israel. Jan., ’25. This is a first in our collection. Three of these four use standard traditional images, including one from Rackham and one from Boutet-Monvel. The image from the latter, FS, seems unfortunately cropped short. The other image is a lively presentation of FC. I am unsure just how the creators thought these tin plates would be used.

2000? Three French Hangable Plates in High Relief: TH, LM, WL. NEM (or ONEM). 7.75" in diameter. Unknown source. Deep relief scene of the fable, with floral patterns at the sides and a moral below. There is a hook for hanging implanted in the resin back.

2023? Wall hanging: The Bayeux Tapestry. 40" x 50". 100% polyester. $50 from Judaicaman: Joshua Jacobovitz, Shilo, Israel, Dec., '24. Though the Bayeux Tapestry is fascinating and a good source for fable illustrations, this copy is disappointing. One would have to look very hard to find those fables and then to recognize them as fables. The advertisement says "Great to snuggle in or hang up in your den."

1981? FG Trinket Box. Made exclusively in Japan for Elizabeth Arden. Southern Heirlooms. 3.25" diameter. From an unknown source. As I try to recover information on where some items came from as they entered this collection, I almost expect to find no help online. This piece is an exception! As soon as I entered an image, all sorts of equivalent photos showed up. The piece is variously known also as a Jewelry Holder and a Candle Holder. I had not thought that one could put or pour a candle into this little creature. In any case, the presentation seems to have nothing to do with FG, since that story depends on the two being separate from each other. For a rather commonplace object, it is beautifully made. The rim has a projection corresponding to the fox's tail.

1980? Souvenir Bowl of La Fontaine's Fable "Rabbit and Weasel Before the Judge Cat." Hand-painted? Signed by M. Praquin. "Décor: L'Or et l"argent – Cadeau." 5" in diameter. Crepy: Limoges. Unknown source. Here is another unusual item in this collection. The fable is clear and well illustrated. A housing issue between rabbit and weasel was referred to Raminogrobis, the saintly hermit cat. He invited the two litigants closer, claiming impaired hearing. When they came closer, he grabbed both. That was the end of the rabbit and the weasel. What does one call this kind of small bowl? There is so much information on the bottom!

1950? Victorian Derby Silver Basket with FS Internal Image. Derby Silver Company Quadruple Plate. 1138? 6" in diameter; basket is 1.75" high. Unknown source. Here is a well preserved basket with its movable handle intact. I find comparable copies with the same number at about $50. A similar copy had a clearer "8" at the end of "1138."