Tableware

1920? Eight cream-colored plates with colored designs. Each plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" at its top, with the individual fable title at the bottom. Each back reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." €200 from entrepot*d on Ebay, Jan., '21. I was sure that we had some of the plates in this series; it turns out that we have plates from at least four other series, but not from this series. We have a similar but smaller plate for hanging depicting TT. I picked up from the kind seller that the plates have numbers, though I could not find them at first on the plates themselves. We have, from what seems to be a set of 12: #3: "Crow and Eagle" #4: BF #5: "Fox and Goat in a Well" #7: FC #8: FK #9: OF #10: "Rabbits and Frogs" #11: WL Ebay.fr has revealed to me that #6 is CJ. From our other holdings, it seems that TT is #12. The other two (#1 and #2) seem to be FS and BC.

1930? 7¼" white bowl from Sarreguemines, France. 1.5" deep. Inside the bowl there is a brown presentation of FC. The front carries three inscriptions: "Fables de la Fontaine," "Le Renard et le Corbeau," and “Offert par Royce.” The back has the usual Digoin stamp. From an unknown source. In this case the series moves away from Grandville to Royce. Renard admires below with his hat in hand. Was Royce an adapter of Grandville's work?

1920? Hand-painted bowl 8" in diameter and 1¼" deep. Title "The Dog & The Shadow" above the hand-painted colored illustration, and "People Who Try To Get What Belongs To/Others Often Lose More Than They Gain" below. Gold trim around the inside and outside edges of the top ring. Aesop's Fables Series. Royal Winton, Grimwades. Made in England. $35 from Col. Kirk's Auction Gallery, Millville, PA through Ebay, August, '99. Magnificent color work! The red piece of meat is just about to hit the water. Some of the lettering seems to be breaking up, but I see no loss in the picture.

1975? Two ceramic canisters, marked "Farine" and "Sucre" and featuring titled images of WL and FC, respectively. Cheryl Johannes, Temecula, CA, through eBay, May, '14. Here are two ceramic kitchen storage canisters, each with a fitting lid. Unfortunately, there seem to be no markings identifying the manufacturer. The "farine" (flour) canister is slightly larger: 4¾" x 4" across the open top and 5¼" high to the top of the lower portion, but 8" to the top of the whole jar. The "sucre" (sugar) canister is 4¼" x 3½" across the open top and 5" high to the top of the lower portion, but 6¾" to the top of the whole jar. "Farine" sports a WL cartoon identical with that on a teal-bordered serving plate in the same series. "Sucre" has the same WL cartoon as the cartoon on a serving plate in the same series.

1975? These six smaller plates -- including one double of FC -- with an unusual teal-colored stripe around the rim of each plate are marked by a circular cartoon of a scene, with its title, from La Fontaine's fables. To judge from the accompanying cake plate, the set is missing only a TH plate. With the accompanying cake plate for $199.99 from Gail Ward, Temple City, CA, through eBay, Nov., '05. These five smaller plates include FC, GA, MM, WC, and "The Lion and the Mosquito."

1975? Here is a cake plate with an unusual teal-colored stripe around the rim. In the center is a titled-scene combining characters from various La Fontaine's fables, with the title "Les Fables de La Fontaine." With six serving plates for $199.99 from Gail Ward, Temple City, CA, through eBay, Nov., '05. This large cake-plate features characters from all five smaller plates. These include FC, GA, MM, WC, and "The Lion and the Mosquito."

One spice jar, 4½" high and 2½" in diameter. The fox faces the tortoise and hare, perhaps at the start of their race. The design is in fact identical with that on the cup, but some of the space between the fox and the other pair is removed on the smaller jar. The jar is marked "Parsley" at its top, and the floral pattern of the top of the cylinder is repeated on the separate lid. $26 from Nona Thompson, Stewartstown, PA, through Ebay, Feb.,' 00.

One cup, almost 3½" high and 3" in diameter, showing the tortoise and hare with the fox perhaps as starter for the race. $15 from Donna Roark at The Scarlet Ibis in McKinney, Texas, through Ebay, August, '99.

2006 Two identical mugs, boxed in "Spode Blue Room" boxes with applied seals "Archive Aesop's Fables Mug, 0.5L, 16oz." Information on the bottom of the mug says "First introduced c. 1830." "Dishwasher, Freezer, Microwave Safe." The design on this cup features, in blue, a simple scene of a lion (?) and a fox apparently simply looking at each other. My best guess is that the scene depicted is that of the fox that first approached the lion and ran away with fear. A second time he came closer. The third time he came right up and addressed him.

2002 Limited Edition Spode Dog Bowl – Signature Collection “Aesop’s Fable.” 10.75" x 8.5" x 3.75". #66 of 750. Unknown source. It took research on the web for me to realize that this is a dog bowl – that is, not only illustrating a dog but meant for feeding a dog! A copy is on sale online for $275. Though this is recent, it is rare, unusual, and valuable. The DS scene on the bowl appears on another Spode piece in our collection, a reproduction platter.

2003 Tree and well platter featuring "The Horse and the Ass." 21". #472 of 1500. "The Signature Collection: "Aesop's Fables." Pattern introduced 1831. $88.99 from Elaine Esquivel through Ebay, Nov, '18. One of the main values of our having this large and impressive piece is that we can show it rather than the original we have from 1831!

One green plate, with the same dimensions and designs as the pink and blue. Its back reads, as does the pink plate's, "The Spode Archive Collection." $9.99 from KeyStrokes, Lebanon, CT, through Ebay, August, '00.

One pink plate, with the same dimensions and designs but in pink. Its back reads as the others with one change in the first phrase: "The Spode Archive Collection" (emphasis mine). $15 from Walter Fisette at the Craftsmen's Gallery, Manchester, CT, through Ebay, Oct., '99.

Three blue plates, 10½" in diameter, showing "The Lion and the Fox" in two scenes, the first in the foreground with a cringing fox and the second in the background with the fox facing the lion. $9.99 from John Harper, Chesterton, Newcastle, England, through Ebay, August, '99; $22.50 from Paula Brickhouse, East Amherst, NY, through Ebay, Sept., '99; and $19.99 from Darlene Furlong, Menominee, MI, through Ebay, Oct., '99.

Platter, 10½" x 7½", showing DS. $25 from Gayle Hoyle, Kingston, WA, through Ebay, Dec., '99.

1835? Spode medium-sized platter picturing "The Mountain in Labour" in their series "Aesop's Fables." 10¼" x 8". $150 from Aesthetic Transferware, May, '20. The mouse is appropriately difficult to find at first in this grand scene. There are several people in the left foreground who seem to be uninvolved or uninterested in the "big doings" that have brought a group of people out of the town on the far right. These people have come some distance, only to be disappointed. I offer a detail of the central image below the platter.

1835? Spode ashette or medium-sized platter picturing "The Crow and the Pitcher" in their series "Aesop's Fables." 8½" x 6". £28 from newcowper through Ebay, Nov., '19. As with each 19th-century Spode piece I see, the design here is exquisite. I would have to check with the sort of people who ran Downton Abbey to know just when an ashette like this would be used, but it would be lovely, even though I wonder about people taking food off of platters showing crows and rocks!

1835 Transferware Plate "The Fox and the Grapes." 6¼" diameter. "Aesop's Fables." Copeland and Garrett. $50 from Alphabetiques, Montague, MA, through Ebay, Sept., '19 The artistry of the green illustration occupying the center of this small plate expresses the fable well. The fox is walking away but he is still looking back at the grapes. He has given up on them and, though he is bad-mouthing them, he would still want to have them. The verso includes "Copeland and Garrett Late Spode."

1835 Staffordshire Plate "The Lion, the Bear, & the Fox." 8¼" diameter. "Aesop's Fables." Copeland and Garrett. $50 from Alphabetiques, Montague, MA, through Ebay, Sept., '19. Here is a lovely presentation in green of the fable in which the lion and bear wear each other out in struggling over the carcass of a deer. Exhausted, the two need to lie and watch as a fox carries away the prey that they have fought over. The verso has clear markings of "Spode" and the quoted titles above.

1835 Spode tureen lid featuring OR. About 4¼: x 5½" x 2¾". $75 from AestheticAntiques.com, Nov., '20. Bentley Chappell and Nancy Barshter at Aesthetic Antiques have a wide offering of fable materials. This was the least expensive. I am unsure of how we are to understand the side opposite the clear presentation of OR. The main side itself is puzzling. Is the oak bending over in the wind? If so, the bird further in the foreground seems unaffected, and the tree seems to be holding its own.