Creighton University Archives and Special Collections

Carlson Fable Collection

Item Set

Items

• Tortoise and Hare salt and pepper shaker set
  1980? Tortoise and Hare salt and pepper shaker set. Hare 2½" tall with three holes in the top of his head. Tortoise almost 3" tall with two holes at the top of his back. $15.50 from Sandy Hyatt, Coffeyville, KS, through Ebay, Sept., '00. The two figures have no identifying marks or labels. Neither has a stopper. The color finish of the standing tortoise is particularly rich. This hare neither sleeps nor moves.
• Tortoise and Hare salt and pepper shaker set
  1977 Tortoise and Hare salt and pepper shaker set. ©FF 1977. Handpainted. The tortoise is 2¾" high with three holes near the top of his back. The hare is 3¼" high with two holes on top of his head. $7.99 from Linn Bruns, Rollingbay, WA, through Ebay, Oct., '00. There is a clear accent here on cuteness. The front of the feet of both figures are turned up to suggest movement. Click on the image to see it enlarged.
• Tortoise and Hare salt and pepper shaker set
  1970? Tortoise and Hare salt and pepper shaker set. Made by New England Ceramics. Tortoise stands 1.5" off the ground, while the standing hare reaches 4". $24 from Cathy Rosenwald, Holland, PA, through Ebay, Feb., '00. Click on the image to see it in larger format. Cathy writes that this set has been featured in Carey and Tompkins 1003 Shakers and Helene Guarnaccia's Book 3. The original stoppers are still in tact. Although this tortoise seems rather standard, the hare is holding his head in his hand and may be sleeping standing up! The few black markings and the purple ear tips on the hare make for a dramatic figure.
• Goose and Golden Egg salt and pepper shaker set
  1960? Goose and Golden Egg salt and pepper shaker set. Made in Japan. The goose is almost 1½" x 2¾" x almost 2¾" high with three holes at the base of her neck. The egg is almost 1 1/8" high and wide and 1½" long with three holes on the rounded side. $5.50 from Guy Berard, Canton, NY, through Ebay, Feb., '01. Gold luster glaze on the egg. This is a very large egg for this goose to have produced!
• Fox and Grapes Salt and Pepper Shaker Set
  1950? "The Fox and the Grapes" salt and pepper shaker set. Apparently made in the U.S.A. Either figure is 3" tall. $24.99 from Beth Warriner, Cocoa, FL, through Ebay, August, '99. I never thought I would see salt and pepper shakers of this fable! Painted grapes cling to the two forks of a sturdy vine, while the fox seems to hug himself and certainly licks his chops. It is of course unfortunate that the fox here is actually higher than the grapes he seeks! The cork under each shaker is missing. I think I can make out a pencilled price on the bottom of each piece: $1.25 for the pair! One person's trash is another person's treasure!
• Set of 11 Longwy plates
  1950? 11 French plates featuring La Fontaine fable scenes produced in Longwy, France. Each is 7¾" in diameter. Backs of the plates include one or all of these three elements: an ink stamp of the Longwy name and coat of arms (apparently a berry branch under a crown); an imprinted mark; and a stamped number (5 or 8). There is one extra of WC. 1500 Francs from Jacques Chesnais at Marché Vernaison in Clignancourt, August, '99. Each plate has a green line inside an undulating outer edge. At the point of indentation an 1¼" into the plate there is a simple black line. Once the plate reaches its lowest level, a repeated pattern of thin and thick blocks forms a circle around the fable scene. This is done in about five strong colors: brown, tan, blue, green, red, and black. The resulting scenes look like wood inlay and are delightful in their simplicity. Does the mouse in FM wear goggles and a swimsuit? The snail in "The Heron" is particularly charming. I found this set early in the day, made a deal to hold them for the day, and had to visit several money machines to get the cash to buy them! Then I got to carry them on my back for the rest of my travels! It was worth it!
• China plate of BF
  1989 China plate of BF, specifically "The Jay and the Peacock." Michael Hampshire. Edwin M. Knowles China Company. Sixth issue in limited edition series of fables. #1066A. Bradex #84-K81-31.6. $19.20 from Allen's Online, May, '99. I had heard that there was a sixth in the series, and a little hunting around the web found Allen's selling it! Now as I try to reduplicate the feat, I cannot! The "eyes" of the peacock feathers stand out brilliantly for their color in this plate. Otherwise the jay is more furry than feathery. There are some littler birds chirping at him, but the peacocks only look on him from afar with disdain. A text brochure is included.
• China plate of MM
  1989 China plate of MM. Michael Hampshire. Edwin M. Knowles China Company. Fifth issue in limited edition series of fables. #1258A. Bradex #84-K81-31.5. $24.99 from Mack's Attic, Derry NH, through Ebay, March, '99. Hampshire tends to work in a Rockwellian mode.Here the pretty dirndled maid sits with bowed legs and a flower drooping from her hands. Chicks swim in the milk, and the cat approaches to drink some. A goat nuzzles up to console the maid. Hampshire surrounds the scene as usual with plenty of farm animals and life. There is again a brochure of the fable included.
• China plate of LM
  1989 China plate of LM. Michael Hampshire. Edwin M. Knowles China Company. Fourth issue in limited edition series of fables. #216A. Bradex #84-K81-31.4. $20 from Brenda Headley, Eastport, NY, May, '99. Second exemplar, #2137A, in excellent condition, for $5 from Rebecca Nader, Altoona, PA, through Ebay, Oct., '99. The mouse holds two ends of a split rope triumphantly in his paws. The lion is in the process of springing free from the net as a whole.The box and certificate have suffered water damage, but it seems not to have affected the plate.Included is a brochure presenting the fable's text and commenting on Hampshire's art.
• China plate of FG
  1989 China plate of FG. Michael Hampshire. Edwin M. Knowles China Company. Third issue in limited edition series of fables. #815A. Bradex #84-K81-31.3. $30 from Daydream at Omaha Collectors' Fair, Nov., '89. Second exemplar, #998A, in excellent condition, for $5 from Rebecca Nader, Altoona, PA, through Ebay, Oct., '99. Richly colored scene. The fox is perching on a wobbly stool on top of a barrel. Might the whole scene be unnecessarily busy?Included is a brochure presenting the fable's text and commenting on Hampshire's art.
• China plate of TH
  1988 China plate of TH. Michael Hampshire. Edwin M. Knowles China Company. Second issue in limited edition series of fables. #6955A. Bradex #84-K81-31.2. $20 from Brenda Headley, Eastport, NY, May, '99. Second exemplar, #976A, in excellent condition, for $5 from Rebecca Nader, Altoona, PA, through Ebay, Oct., '99. The tortoise approaches us in victory and is just reaching the finish ribbon held by a frog and a squirrel. The rabbit looks on in surprise from behind the tortoise. Richly colored! Included is a brochure presenting the fable's text and commenting on Hampshire's art.
• China plate of GGE
  1988 China plate of GGE. Michael Hampshire. Edwin M. Knowles China Company. First issue in a limited edition series of fables. #15343A. Bradex #84-K81-31.1. $19.99 from Kathy Ignoto, Southwick, MA, through Ebay, April, '99. Second exemplar, #14083A, for $20 from Brenda Headley, Eastport, NY, May, '99. Third exemplar, #12125A, in excellent condition, for $5 from Rebecca Nader, Altoona, PA, through Ebay, Oct., '99. The plate makes the wife the center of attention as she faces out at the viewer. The egg sits between her and us, and is surrounded by the proud goose and admiring animals and owner. Well done. Each exemplar includes a brochure presenting the fable's text and commenting on Hampshire's art.
• Set of 9 Keller & Guerin Green and Black plates
  1910? Set of nine small plates almost 7" in diameter illustrating fables of La Fontaine from K G Keller and Guerin, Luneville, France. €140 from superschiko through Ebay, May, '20. Extra of FG for $35 from Pascal Pinan-Lucarre, Lille, France, through Ebay, June, '99. The seller tells me that the trademark "Marque blazon couronné KG" was used between 1880 and 1922. Each plate shows a pleasing interaction between a central photograph-like image in black and the green leaf-pattern around the outside, with a strong, dark green rim beyond that. The fable title is given at the top of the image, and key lines are at the bottom. In the extra plate, there is a set of repaired cracks from 8 to 10 o'clock. After having just one plate for twenty years, I feel fortunate to have found the set!
• Set of 7 Hautin Boulenger of Choisy-le-Roi Plates
  1910? Seven "talking plates" by Hautin Boulenger & Cie, in Choisy-le-Roi, France, featuring illustrations of fables of La Fontaine. 7¾" in diameter. €8 each from Jobey Antique Shop, Normandie, France, through Ebay, Oct., '20. Four further plates from artdelatable50 through Ebay for €46, Jan., '22. The blue illustrations inside a black floral-animal circular frame on these crème colored plates are adventuresome "translations" of the fables into human situations and events. Some of the human scenes depicted here are hard for me to decipher. Is the dog's plight in DW that he lives in a spare room in the attic? Is the promenading wife in FG looking down on others she could have married? Has the hookah-smoker taken over a whole room in his host's house? Will the child bothering the "Lion" like a mosquito soon run into the police? Does the "stag" stepping off the curb into water misunderstand what is good and what is bad for him? Is there anything more to WL than an ugly attack on the street?
• Richard Ginori, The Tortoise and the Hare
  1960 China plate of TH by Richard Ginori, Italy. Almost 10" in diameter. Decoration by M. Praquin of Crépy. Exlusivity of "L'or et l'argent," Chateau-Thierry, France. $9.95 from Shayna Prentice, San Diego, CA, through ebay, April, '04. This delightful plate is inscribed in a delicate longhand on its back "Le Lièvre et la Tortue." The front of the plate is unadorned except for the rendering of the finish line of TH after J.J. Grandville. Grandville's initials are still on the milepost marking the finish.
• One dessert plate illustrating the Fox and the Crow
  1990? One dessert plate illustrating FC. On the front is "Fables de la Fontaine" and "Le Corbeau et le Renard." On the back of the plate is "Musée de la Faiencerie de Gien." Gien: France. £2.99 from Karen Dillon, St. Saviour, Jersey, Feb., '06. This plate is identical in form to the FC plate in the set of six dessert plates by the Musée de la Faiencerie de Gien. Where, however, that plate used gray, this plate uses black. The impression is quite different!
• Gien Black Dessert Plates
  1990? Boxed set of six dessert plates "Fables de la Fontaine." On the back of each plate is "Musée de la Faiencerie de Gien." Gien: France. $90 for the set from Eric Zimmermann, Quebec, Canada, Nov., '00. One extra exemplar of "Le Renard et la Cicogne" for $9.99 from the same source through Ebay, Nov., '00. This lovely set combines busy central images with a uniform "leaf, grape, and vine" decoration around each plate's border. They choose well when they put FC on the cover of the box. My second prize goes to "The Crow Trying to Imitate an Eagle." In both of these, the open spaces make reading the plate's central image easier and more enjoyable.
• Cock and Jewel Gien Plate
  1920? 8" cream-colored plate with a blue-green colored design depicting CJ. The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" and "Le Coq et la Perle." The partial back stamp reads "Porcelaine …e de Gien." There is a registry mark on the plate's back. $35 from Linda Leffingwell, Doyestown, PA, June, '11. The block lettering is typical of Gien work. The cock is dramatically positioned in the center of the scene and oriented to the pearl just beneath him. The scene covers the entirety of the front of the plate.
• Fox and Goat Gien Plate
  1920? 8" cream-colored plate with a blue-green colored design depicting "The Fox and the Goat." The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" and "Le Renard et le Bouc." The back stamp reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." There is a registry mark on the plate's back. $35 from Linda Leffingwell, Doyestown, PA, June, '11. The block lettering is typical of Gien work. The moment depicted finds the fox looking back for a moment as he begins to walk away and leave the goat helpless in the well. The two animal characters are highlighted by the scene's shading; surprisingly, perhaps, the well's mechanism is equally highlighted. The scene covers the entirety of the front of the plate.
• Fox and Stork Gien Plate
  1920? 8" cream-colored plate with a blue-green colored design depicting FS. The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" and "Le Renard et la Cigogne." The back stamp reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." There is a registry mark on the plate's back. $35 from Linda Leffingwell, Doyestown, PA, June, '11. The block lettering is typical of Gien work. Though the scene is the fable's second phase, in which the stork is turning the tables on the fox, the artist manages to position the stork's tall vase inside of the fox's shallow soup-bowl. The fox looks on, perhaps noticing the enticing and edible creature suggested inside the vase. The scene covers the entirety of the front of the plate.
• Gien Medium Blue Wall Decoration, The Fox and the Lamb
  1920? 8½" cream-colored plate with a blue-green colored design depicting WL. The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine" and "Le Loup et l'Agneau." The smudged back stamp reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." $25 through an unknown source prior to 2007. The block lettering is typical of Gien work. The wolf is looking up and even seeming to look beyond the offending lamb. It is hard to know whether this is a normal plate that a clever person has made into a wall decoration -- or whether Gien did the piercing of the glass back of the plate. As I say of the larger colored plate of TT done by Gien, it was apparently made from the start to adorn a wall rather than a table.
• Gien Colored Plates
  1920? Eight cream-colored plate 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 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 seem to be FS and BC.
• Gien Large Colored Wall Decoration, The Talkative Tortoise
  1920? 7 7/8" cream-colored plate with colored design and raised edges depicting the fall of TT. The plate reads "Fables de LaFontaine 12" and "La Tortue et les Deux Canards." The back reads "Porcelaine opaque de Gien." $25 through Myrtice Stratton and Ebay, April, '99. A charming plate. It depicts the fall just after the tortoise has let go of the stick. The countryside is beautifully pictured, though the seller found it somewhat discolored with age. There is a string through two holes in the bottom rim of the plate. Apparently it was made from the start to adorn a wall rather than a table. Click on the image to see an enlarged version.
• G.D. Paris
  1900? 10 China plates. Robert Salles (?). Paris: G.D. $120 through Norsk European Wholesale Warehouse, Colnbrook, UK, Jan., '14. Extra exemplar of "L'Huitre et les Plaideurs"for $11.50 from Maureen Reese, Fleetville, PA, through eBay, Dec., '03. Ms Reese guesses a date in the late 1800's or early 1900's for these lovely plates. She describes the piece as a vintage porcelain/ceramic plate measuring about 8¼" in diameter. There is a painted pink rim with an embossed floral design. In each plate's center is a fine colored depiction of a fable scene. Lovely hues -- maroon, tan, yellow, blue, flesh, and green -- color the scenes nicely. The fable texts are arranged in unusual fashion. They are divided into sections and appear at various places on various plates. The artist's signature is, as Ms. Reese notes, quite difficult to decipher. "Robert" seems clear, but the last name is presented in such an affected style that it is hard to decipher. The back has one or two apparent registry marks besides the "G.D. Paris" stamp. Several plates have clear numbers between "1" and "10" but on others, if they exist, they are hard to find. A lovely set!
• Franklin Porcelain
  1982 Franklin Porcelain miniature plate. The Best Loved Fairy Tales: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. Carol Lawson Signature Edition. A Limited Edition of Fine Bone China. #41 of 50 designs. $7.95 from Simply Wonderful Gifts, Bend, OR, through Ebay, July, '00. The rim around the circumference of this 3¼" miniature plate is done in a dove pattern trimmed in 24K gold. The inside 2" circle shows the two mice enjoying fruits. To see a larger view of the plate, click on the image.