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1978 CR Album Panels 1978 Two three-holed TH and two TMCM landscape album pages, almost 8½" x slightly over 12", containing both the TH and TMCM 1978 Red Cross stamps, a large illustration, and some explanatory text in French. No. 481 (TH) and No. 481S (TMCM) du catalogue CEF. #887 and #7216 (TH) and #3328 and #6385 (TMCM) of 20,300 offset exemplars. Imprimé par Editions CEF à Nice. Distribué par Les Oeuvres Sociales du Personnel des PTT. $20.50 from Alexandre Przopiorski, Lyon, France, March, '99. #6385, an extra, for $5.55 from Gilles Descary through eBay, July, '05. #7216, also an extra, for $5 from Loic Marchat, Villeurbane Cedex, France, through eBay, June, '05.And in April of 2013 a copy of No. 363 -- in fact, Copy # 04105 of 4900 -- for $5 from Topical Paradise.
The TMCM illustration is the simple cartoon-like country scene on the envelopes from the same "croix rouge 78" promotion. There are comments on the history of illustration of La Fontaine's fables and on the illustrations found in the stamps themselves, which are meant to celebrate an illustrative style almost exactly a hundred years old at the time. TMCM 2 does the same for its single stamp, with a lavish illustration added at the city banquet. The TH illustration shows a sweating runner on the left, but the tortoise—complete with sun-hat—finishing on the right. The shorter comments on the TH page are taken verbatim from the longer comments on the TMCM page.
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1978 CR Panel 1978 "Série 'Croix-Rouge,' Fables de la Fontaine." French First Day Cover commemorative panel celebrating and displaying stamps of TH and TMCM. 8¼" x 11". 2 Decembre 1978. #46-78 Document Philatélique Officiel edité par L'Administration des Postes et Télécommunications pour le Musée Postal. Tiré sur les presses de l'Imprimerie des Timbres-Poste. $29.50 from Alexandre Prozopiorski, Lyon, France, April, '99.
This sturdy page comes from the French post office's "historical collection of the stamp." It offers a short overview of published illustrations of Aesop and an artistic analysis of the elements of each stamp. There is even a lovely imprinted seal of the Imprimerie at the bottom. At the top is a brown-and-white drawing of animals found in La Fontaine's fables. The artist's signature, difficult to read, is something like "Aldreono" or "Aldreorro."
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1978 Folded Serigraphs 1978 Four French First Day Cover folded papers with screen prints, plus duplicates of two. Two serigraphs are of TH and two of TMCM. The rabbit image is by Perdeau, the tortoise image by Lavidiasse, the salmon colored of TMCM by Berthou, and the golden by Naxos. Cancelled December 2, 1978 in Chateau-Thierry. "Numérotation et Cotation sur Catalogue Thiaude." $12 from Topical Paradise through ebay, April, '12. Extra pair for $4 each from Loic Marchat, Villeurbanne, France, through eBay, Oct., '05.
I am still trying to figure out just what this folded paper is. Whatever it is, it is exquisitely done! A heavy sheet about 8" x 13" is folded into a nine-rectangle packet measuring about 3¾" x 6½". The left half of the resulting front shows the serigraph surrounded by a raised ridge; on the right one sees the stamp, two or three cancellation marks, and an identification of the author (e.g. "Sérigraphie de Lavidiasse"). The Perdeau front adds a green stamp showing a hare to the two cancellations from the standard red stamp; the Lavidiasse front has only these two. Similarly, there is an added TMCM cancellation on the Berthou paper. The verso of either includes an embossed seal, a comment on the visual artist, and a longer comment on La Fontaine's achievement. I seem to be able to make out a "TH" inside the embossed seal on the verso; might that be for Thiaude?Perdeau's comment has the unfortunate typo "plaisr."
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1978 CR Envelopes 1978 Six French First Day Cover envelopes (and five extras) dated "2 Decembre 1978" celebrating and carrying stamps of TH and TMCM. The colored pictures on these envelopes show respectively La Fontaine in a pastoral setting with animals; TH at the start; TH along the way; town and city rats in the country; and two versions of the town and city rats at the city meal. La Fontaine: Between $2 and $5 from Karen Ross, Iron Mountain, MI, through Ebay, April, '99; Alexandre Prozopiorski, April, '99; Charles Legault, Gloucester, Ontario, through Ebay, Jan, '00; and Annick Tilly, Clignancourt, July, '01. TH envelope at the finish for $3 from Topical Paradise, Feb., 20. Envelope with La Fontaine portrait and Château-Thierry coat of arms for $1 from Topical Paradise, Jan., '20.
The postmark on each celebrates "La Croix Rouge et la Poste." The place of the postmark is La Fontaine's own Chateau-Thierry. The La Fontaine illustration is signed HR(?), and I seem to recognize the work, but cannot pin it down. The La Fontaine envelope proclaims "First Day Cover" twice. The woodland scene on it is lovely. "TH Start," "TMCM Country," and one of the "TMCM City" envelopes have a straight-line golden border around the illustration. "TH Along the Way" and one "TMCM City" envelope share a different format from these other two, including a number (No. 1103 and No. 1104 respectively). They alone present the text of their fable on the verso of the envelope. TH at the finish seems to present yet another format.
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1978 CR Postcards 1978 5 French First Day Cover postcards dated "2 Decembre 1978" celebrating and carrying stamps of TH (3) and TMCM with art by Lucien Achille Mauzan. Two with cursive titles and giving "X. Mauzan" as the artist for $9.50 from A. Przopiorski, Sully Philatelie, Maisons Alfort, France, through Ebay, Oct., '99. TH with sweating rabbit and capped turtle for $4 from Topical Paradise Limited through eBay, August, '08. TH with golden frame, zigzag path, and "Croix-Rouge 1978" title for $5.01 from Loic Marchat, Villeurbane, France, through eBay, August, '05. Two cards with rather garish coloring of TH and TMCM for $.99 each from Filkom NV, Bornem, Belgium, through eBay, Feb., '09.
The postmarks on all the cards celebrate "La Croix Rouge et la Poste," as do the backs of the Mauzan cards. The place of each postmark is La Fontaine's own Chateau-Thierry. The Mauzan illustrations show particular whimsy. I had never before seen a snail decked out as a hot rod! The genteel rats of TMCM belong among my mother's soft sculptures! The backs of the cards give Mauzan's dates as 1883-1952. The "sweating rabbit" representation of TH appears on the 8½" x 12" sheet that is an accessory to the 1978 series, while the rabbit on the zigzag path appears on one of the envelopes done at the same time. The illustration shows a zig-zaggy yellow path through green landscape. There is a straight-line golden border around the illustration. The coloring of the garish TH card seems, except for the two main characters, to be done in horizontal strips.
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1978 Stamp Booklet 1978 Booklet enclosing four each of the 1978 Red Cross stamps of TH and TMCM. About 3" x 4". £.99 from Brian Chilton, Nairn, Highland, Scotland, through eBay, Oct., '06.
The front cover of this little booklet mixes red, green, brown, and black. The green background may be Paris in La Fontaine's time. There is a cameo bust of La Fontaine in the lower left. The script reads "République Française: Secretariat d'Etat aux Postes et Télécommunications 1978: émission au profit de la Croix-Rouge Française." The center presents a quadrant of four of either stamp postmarked Strassbourg, December 11, 1978. The back page is a monochrome mélange of several fables, perhaps FC, TMCM, MM, FK, TH and "The Heron." Click on any stamp to see a larger version of both stamps. Creating the larger version helped me to discover that both stamps are signed "Andreotto."
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First day Cancellation of Florian anniversary stamp 1955 First day Cancellation of Florian anniversary stamp and postcard, April 2, 1955. Cancelled at his birthplace, Sauve (Gard). $5 from Topical Paradise Limited, Oct., '12.
This postcard is made out in print to Editions Bourgogne, Dijon, France. I do not understand that. The short description assigns Florian his usual place: "Il est, après La Fontaine, mais d'ailleurs bien loin derrière lui, notre fabuliste le plus remarquable."
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Two FDC envelopes 1955 Two FDC envelopes celebrating the 12 Franc stamp from 1955 featuring a portrait of Florian. Both have a postmark "Premier Jour Sauve - Florian - 2 Avril 1955." One envelope features a duochrome bust of Florian. The other presents a full-color collection of scenes from his fables. $4 each from Loic Marchat, Villeurbanne, France, through eBay, Oct. 11, 05.
I had not been aware of this Florian stamp. He was born in Sauve in Gard in 1755. Poor Florian. Even this celebration of him includes, in the prose under his portrait: "Author of lovely pastorals and especially of numerous fables, which rank him as the follower, even if from a great distance, of our own good La Fontaine" (italics mine). Perhaps the easiest scene to recognize on the fable composite has the monkey lecturing with a magic lanterne. The stamp itself classifies him as "Fabuliste Romancier Autour Dramatique." Click on either stamp to see an enlarged version of it.
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1938 LaF Portrait Stamp 1938 One 55c French stamp from 1938 featuring a portrait of Jean de la Fontaine and a panel showing WL. Scott France #351. $2.25 from Babette Omland, Daytona Beach, FL, through Ebay, August, '01.
I have been able to verify the Scott number on the web. I am afraid this stamp does not tell me more than that, even in 1938, the French liked to think about La Fontaine!
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Zanesville Tiles 1900? Five 6" square tiles of fable scenes from Walter Crane's Baby's Own Aesop. Manufactured by the Mosaic Tile Company in Zanesville, Ohio. $130 for MSA from Blue Boar Antiques at Baltimore Antiquarian Fair, Aug., '91. "Peacock's Complaint" for $98 from Eauctionz, Ontario, NY, through Ebay, Oct., '99. The other three for $49.99 each from Eauctionz at the same time.
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Shapeshifter Wooden and Paper Tiles 2023? Shapeshifter wooden and paper tiles of "Baby's Own Aesop." 12 pieces. About 1¾" square. $10.43 from ShapeShifterUK, London, through Etsy, April, '23.
Now here is something different. Paper facsimiles of Walter Crane's illustrations in "Baby's Own Aesop" are glued onto original wooden backings 45 mm square. Well done! We show them here in threes.
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Mintons Blue Tiles 1875? Twelve six-inch square tiles. Manufactured by Mintons China Works, Stoke on Trent. Designed by John Moyr Smith. The mark on each back includes "Walbrook, London." All twelve for $480 from Margery Northup through Fran's Estate Sales, Gilbert, AZ, March, 2001. Extra copies of FC and FS for $102.5 from Riverwalk, Hattiesburg, MS, through Ebay, Feb., '00.
These blue tiles surprised me when I first discovered them. I did not know that Minton did blue as well as brown tiles. They are apparently exactly the same in design. Are the patterns here as crisp and clear as on the brown tiles? The titles are read in curious fashion, starting from eleven o'clock and reading toward three o'clock, and then restarting from eight and reading toward four. Do the twelve make up a complete set? Click on any tile to see it enlarged.
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Six-inch square tile titled "The Dog and His Shadow." 1875? Six-inch square tile titled "The Dog and His Shadow." Manufactured by Mintons China Works, Stoke on Trent. Designed by John Moyr Smith. Framed. $150 from The Jewelsmith, Tempe, AZ, through Ebay, Jan., '00.
Again, lovely brown and cream colors. The title is read in curious fashion, starting from nine o'clock and reading toward three o'clock, and then restarting from eight and reading toward four. In the upper left and lower right, one needs to read going up; the key is to start as far left as possible and always move right. The dog has let go of his large piece of meat, the shadowy reflection of which falls just inside the image's circular frame. A railing on the bridge helps define the heavy horizontal framing of the scene, but leaves his tail above its line.
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Maw Tiles 1880? Two tiles, GGE and MSA, done by Maw & Co. $75 each through Ebay from Howard Zar, Oct., '99. "The Doctors and the Dying Man" for $45 from UtterClutter1973 on Etsy, Dec., '20.
These tiles are done in a brown-and-white format. I have not yet succeeded in identifying the artist but the images seem so familiar! Each tile is signed "COM." So far I have three tiles in a series reported to include twelve tiles. The miller in MSA is so serious! For me the greatest interest in GGE lies in the surprise on the woman's face as she looks on."The Doctors" is a rather unusual fable to illustrate but absolutely true to experience, not just in medicine!
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One tile, "The Foxes and the Grapes" 1880? One tile, "The Foxes and the Grapes," produced by Minton, Hollins and Company. Stoke on Trent. 6" x 6". $29.95 from Steward Hoins, Nordland, WA, through eBay, Oct., '03.
This particular illustration has long been a fascination for me. Is it likely that three foxes together would jump for grapes that they could not get? And would they concoct the same explanation of why they did not achieve what they wanted? And would they put up with each other's stories?
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One tile, "The Sow and the Wolf" 1880? One tile, "The Sow and the Wolf," produced by Minton, Hollins and Company. Stoke on Trent. Slight fritting on the edges. 6" x 6". $82 from Chris Hawkins Antiques, UK, through Ebay, Feb., '02.
The design for this tile is apparently taken from the engraving done by Samuel Howitt—in fact page 14 of my copy of his 1811 A New Work of Animals Principally Designed from the Fables of Aesop, Gay, and Phaedrus. Though the piglets may not be clear, the sow's udder is. The wolf's pose is a surprisingly good mix of non-chalance and eagerness.
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Fève Tiles 2011 Royal Ceram Les Fables de La Fontaine Fèves Ceramique. Complete set. Between $3.51 and $4.10 for each of the twelve pieces from Genealogos on Ebay, July, '20.
This is a totally surprising set of miniature tiles. "Feves" in French are "fava beans," hidden in king cakes. I am surprised by the number of forms they have taken on. For fables, at least two forms are important: little figurines of well known fable characters and, in this case, miniature tiles of well known illustrations of La Fontaine's fables. These illustrations are in fact taken from Pellerin of Epinal, a long-time publisher in brilliant color of La Fontaine's fables. I was surprised to find this set for sale on Ebay, because I had not been aware of its existence. I am delighted with it! It is hard to know where to list it. I will list it exhaustively under "Tiles" but offer links to it in "feves" and "toys." Fables keep surprising me! I will offer here two overall views and then individual tiles.
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English Delft 1760? One tile, FS, English Liverpool printed delftware tile by John Sadler. Slightly less than 5"x5". $104.01 from Rodney Harmic, Dover, DE, through Ebay, Feb., '00. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Transfer of printed design in black. "88" border. For some reason I find the image slightly hard to read. The stork has his beak in a big demijohn bottle. The fox on hind legs looks almost horse-like! Notice the shadow dish in the foreground. This tile is slightly smaller than nineteenth-century tiles I have found. The lower right corner is broken and repaired, and there are several small semi-circular chips around the front edge. I have kept some border in the scanner image of this tile to show the flaws around the edges. A great find!
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John Cutting Original Tiles 1980? Ten original decorated tiles by John Cutting of Withersdale Tiles. Harleston, Norfolk, England. 6"x 6". Drawings and decoration by Cutting. In the original individual boxes. £160 from mattbrightman1 through Ebay, Sept., '21.
"Produced in a small country workshop with the finest available material." Alas, "The Fox and the Woodcutter" got cracked in shipping. Lovely designs!
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Berggren Trayner 1960? Four tiles, each marked as "Inspired by 18th Century Aesop's Fable Tiles." 6" x 6". Blue-and-white designs of BW, GGE, LM, and TH. Libertyville, IL: Berggren Trayner Corporation. Designs B-70 through B-73. $21 from Kay Hofman, Floodwood, MN, through Ebay, June, '00.
These tiles show lively modern designs inside a circle with a rope border enclosing four smaller circles at the compass points, with pleasant floral patterns in the corners. The wolf in the first tile has his jaws around the crying boy's leg! The ears are lopped over the sleep hare's head in the last tile. Each tile has felt backing, a cut-out hanger, and label suggesting some of the history of tile work. Each label claims that the tiles are hand screened. The TH tile has a separated corner that has been reattached.
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FDC Envelope 2001 FDC Envelope with the four pairs of cancelled stamps and a design on the front of the envelope. The verso of the envelope reads " The First Day Cover carries an artist's impression of Vishnu Sarman, the author of Panchatantra telling the stories to his pupils. Department of Posts, India. Accompanied by an extra pair of the TT stamps. Unknown source.
This envelope seems larger than many and thus offers room for all eight stamps and the design. Every phrase on these stamps is done in Hindi and English. I do not know what the "Hafnia 01 Danmark" symbol in the lower right corner means. Is it a Danish stamp collecting outfit?
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2 postcards using the stamps of Panchatantra 2001 2 postcards using the stamps of Panchatantra as part of the card itself, one with a photo of a swan and the other with a cartoon of a lion. $10 from Arun Agarwal, Kanpur, India, on eBay, Feb., '
These two postcards are surprising in several ways. First, they are so different from each other. One uses a standard photograph of a swan gliding through placed waters – supposedly to illustrate the efforts of two geese to save a talkative turtle. The other places a cartoon of a lion in a similar photograph of a jungle setting, to set up the stamps' story of a the rabbit who lured a lion into jumping into a well to attack his competitor. The second surprise is that the stamps are not paste onto the card but rather integrated into its picture. Both list the India Post on the obverse and list "Postmas ter General Pune 411 001."
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Full Setanant Set of Four Fable Stamp Pairs 2001 Full Setanant Set of Four Fable Stamp Pairs from India. Mint. Never hinged. Both stamps in each pair are marked "400." $8.50 from Vasanthi Balson, Columbus, OH, through eBay, Oct., '02.One extra set from the same source at the same price at the same time.
The four stories are from Kalila and Dimna. Each is really two stamps that make up a single picture with two scenes. The art is somewhat Disneyesque, particularly in the scene of the lion looking down the well and seeing his own reflection. The artist has worked to integrate the two parts of each scene, e.g., with the sun that joins the two parts of TT and the tree that forms the edge of both scenes in "The Monkey and the Crocodile." These stamps are attractive!
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Eastern European Stamps 1990? One page of stamps titled "Fiabe e favole," apparently album folio 92 from Meraviglie dei Francobolli. Twelve stamps from Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. "Album e Taschine Brevettati Bolaffi Torino." Fratelli Fabbri Editori. $5 at the Porta Portese flea market, July, '98.
The page includes the Hungarian stamp of MSA and the Polish FC stamp featured elsewhere here. Go to the Porta Portese flea market, and you never know what you will find!
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Dahomey Envelopes 1972 Two Dahomey FDC envelopes featuring FS (35F) and "Le Chat, la Belette et le petit Lapin" (40F). August 28, 1972. Cotonou. République du Dahomey. $9.70 from Gilles Descary, St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Canada, through eBay, May, '04.
Each envelope works well with the design of its stamp, selecting and transforming slightly. Each gives the title of its fable and the name and dates of La Fontaine.