Creighton University Archives and Special Collections

Carlson Fable Collection

Item Set

Items

• Faïencerie Nouvelle, Givors, France
  1920? Eleven plates -- including three extras -- illustrating fables of La Fontaine. 7½" white plate bordered in a green floral pattern with a central design in two or three of four colors: green, blue, brown, and tan. The back gives the fable title in block letters along with an FNG symbol surrounded by "Faïencerie Nouvelle, Givors, France." $10 to $15 each from a variety of sellers including Mary Ellen Kennedy, Larchmont, NY through Ebay, Nov.,' 99 and April, '00. FG shows a very pretty design in blue, green, and brown. The blue grapes are nicely distinct from the green leaves around them. A trellis to the right suggests that some things or persons can get up to the grapes, even if this fox cannot. The coloring of this and other plates seems to suggest a stenciling process. One extra copy. Both copies have a "D" on the back. GA has a busy design strong on the browns of the grasshopper's guitar and the ant's house, as well as the greens of the grasshopper and the stairs to the ant's house. The blue ant almost gets lost in the design. One extra copy. "L'Huitre et les Plaideurs" has a dramatic design with the strong blues of the judge's robe at the center and an empty blue shell in either hand. Tans and browns fill out the design nicely. The second copy shows what happens to a design when one color set misses the others: all three tan faces and the judge's hands are displaced here to the left. MSA is one of the more complex designs. It shows the miller seated on the ass, with his son seated behind him and holding on to his waist. Cobblestones and hooves are nicely depicted. OF uses brown and blue-green to create this dish's strong contrast. This plate does not involve the tan coloring found on some other plates in the series. TH uses green to frame the scene and set the path along which the tortoise trudges. The tortoise's brown back contrasts nicely with the hare's tan body. The hare's direction shows how uninterested he is in the race. FS has a strong dramatic vertical line at its center emphasizing the stork's tall vase. Does clever positioning of the fox's eye suggest an attitude of dismay? This plate distinguishes between blue (for the stork's body) and green (for the vase). FC is perhaps the most animated of these plates. The fox has his arms spread, perhaps in admiration of the crow's beauty. Two semicircles of brown delineate the round cheese in the crow's beak.
• "Fables de La Fontaine"
  1980? Large (11¾" diameter) single plate with a banner on its face "Fables de La Fontaine." Brown, blue, and green. €15 from "MK" at St. Ouen, June, '19. This encounter at the St. Ouen flea market was unusual. I asked about fable books and cards. As they presented me with a simple book, which I bought, they also alerted each other, reached in the back and, as I recall, cleaned up a plate that they had: this plate! I can find no other identifying marks. The most popular characters from La Fontaine are here: fox, crow, cicada, tortoise, town and country mice, hare, bear, frog, and heron. The interplay of the three colors in the bodies and dress of the characters, as well as in the sky and the tree, is pleasing. A pretty plate!
• A plate of La Fontaine's FC using an images by Épinal de Pellerin
  1980?A plate of La Fontaine's FC using an images by Épinal de Pellerin. £4.99 from Mr. and Mrs. C. Protheroe, Cwmbran, Gwent, UK, through eBay, Oct., '05. This plate measures just over 9" in diameter.It lacks the green stripe around the edge of the smaller plates. The Épinal coloring is again brilliant! The match of color to the black outlines is superior here to the parallel image of FC on the smaller plates. Click on the image to see a larger version.
• Epinal de Pellerin
  1980? Six plates of La Fontaine's fables using images of Épinal de Pellerin. $36 from Mrs. Jack B. Frymire of Elkhorn, WI, through eBay, Sept., '05. These plates measure just over 8" in diameter.The Épinal coloring is typically brilliant! The six plates include "Le Héron," "Le Petit Poisson et le Pecheur," OF, TH, LM, and FC.What a lucky find! Click on any plate to see a larger version.
• Dulevo Russian FS Plate
  1980? Russian plate almost 8" in diameter presenting FS. "Dulero IS 5." "7 87." $60 from Evgeny Ponomar, Russia, Sept., '18. The design on this lovely plate with gold rim and four mushroom designs stresses the stork's long neck. The fox has apron and ladle worthy of a cook. The dish is laid out in the middle of the forest on a lovely blanket. It is curious that the design stresses the first of the two acts in this play.
• Dentelle Fringe Plate, The Dog and the Shadow
  1920? Brown and white plate 9" in diameter with an open-dentelle fringe showing DS at its center. This plate is marked by its open dentelles around the outer rim, with an arched opening in each dentelle. Inside at the center is a recognizable image of DS. It is exactly the image that appears on Minton tiles of the same period, whether they are brown or blue. The choice of a moment to depict is good because the dog has just lost his piece of meat, and it has not yet entered the water to be lost forever.
• Creil and Montereau Lebeuf Milliet
  1890? Nine Creil & Montereau plates. Lebeuf Milliet (Mujjet?). Porcelaine Opaque. Illustrating named fables of La Fontaine. €160 from Stéphane Lavalley, Feb., '22. I think I recognize these illustrations of La Fontaine, particularly TH and GA, but I cannot name the artist. The outer circular frame and dentils just inside them remain the same throughout the series. How many might the series include? Lebeuf and Milliet became owners of the faience works in Creil and Montereau in the mid 1800's. The seal on the back of each plate proclaims the gold medals won in 1834, 1839, and 1844.
• Creil & Montereau Monochrome
  1900? Set of 12 monochrome -- brown against a cream background -- Creil Montereau plates. Each numbered plate offers an application or human occurrence of La Fontaine's fables. €100 from assietteparlante21 through Ebay, Sept. '21. This set seems identical in form with the four colored plates I found earlier. One (Fool Selling Wisdom) is cracked and repaired. A lovely set, full of wit! See a further use of these designs under Porcelaines Champs-Elysée.
• "Le Rat qui s'est Retiré du Monde." Plate
  1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing three scenes depicting "Le Rat qui s'est Retiré du Monde." Numbered "8." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $45 from Daria Edwards, NY, Feb., '00. This sad story is of the religious hermit-rat who moves into a cheese to live and turns down his fellows when they, under attack, come asking for help (La Fontaine VII 3). He offers them a blessing and says that he, separated from such worldly concerns, will give nothing more. Here a colored panel shows three human soldiers appealing to a monk who leans out of his home's window as they appeal to him. The smaller monochrome panels show the animal scene, complete with its large ball of cheese, and also the enemy: the cat waiting at a hole for any rat who emerges.
• "Le Loup et le Chien." Plate
  1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing three scenes depicting "Le Loup et le Chien." Numbered "6." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $9.99 from Antiques Gallery, St. Cloud, MN, through eBay, Feb., '03. The smaller pictures on the upper left and lower right picture the chained dog and the departing wolf, respectively. The central picture portrays a thin, poorly clad man with his stick and satchel taking his leave from a rotund man in a uniform of service. The latter carries a set of keys. La Fontaine's fable says that this wolf ran away and is running still!
• "The Mouse, Cat, and Rooster." Plate
  1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing two scenes depicting "The Mouse, Cat, and Rooster." Numbered "4." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $17.50 from thegreenloft through Ebay, June, '22. This plate features a central framed and colored illustration of human characters, with three monochrome frames around it presenting the three animal figures of the fable. Apparently, the naïve child runs from the loud soldier, who might protect him, and trusts the judge. The judge, it turns out, is a devouring cat.
• "Le Fou qui Vend la Sagesse." Plate
  1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing three scenes depicting "Le Fou qui Vend la Sagesse." Numbered "3." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $45 from Daria Edwards, NY, Feb., '00. Click on the image to see it enlarged. The madman offers wisdom for a price, and gives those who pay a slap and a piece of thread two ells long. In this strange and wonderful story (La Fontaine IX 8), the first result is that we should not try to make sense of this act – or of anything else that fools say or do! The second result occurs in the story when one fellow, embarrassed by the blow and thread, goes to find a wise man, who tells him immediately that these things are symbols: "Stay this length of thread away from all madmen, or you'll get similar 'caresses.' You were not fooled; that madman does sell wisdom." The plate effectively presents both objects of trade, the slap and the thread. Monochrome characters in the panels at left and right are pondering the string and laughing, respectively.
• Grasshopper and Ant Plate
  1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing three scenes depicting GA. Numbered "2." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $18 from Penny Hughes, Marysville, WA, Feb., '06. This plate features, in its side panels, the backs of two men. One seems a prosperous farmer with mounds of hay nearby. The other has poorer clothing and strides away with a walking stick carrying something -- an instrument perhaps? -- as he goes. The central panel features two women. The "ant" holds an instrument for spinning, while the lovely younger grasshopper holds a lute. A small child is jut behind her.
• Oak and Reed Plate
  1900? Faience plate 8" in diameter showing two scenes depicting OR. Numbered "1." A mark on the back seems to combine the letters "M" and "C" and says "déposé Fables Terre de Fer." $17.50 from thegreenloft through Ebay, June, '22. This plate features, in its mostly hidden background, the fable itself. One can see broken branches and leafy reeds. The plate's prominent framed picture features and soldier with rifle and a worker with spade. Which will survive? A non-colored second framed scene has two young men, the armed one of which has fallen. In the background of this scene is a fallen tree, and in the foreground some bending reeds.
• Creative World Plate, The Fox and the Grapes
  1979 "The Fox and the Grapes." Sculptured by Herman L. Deaton. Hand Painted on Cold Cast Bronze. No. 1048 of a Limited Edition of 9750 plates. 7¼" in diameter and 1 inch deep. $26 from Gerald Kaylarian, Seattle, through Ebay, July, '99. Now this is a weighty object! "Plate" here is no longer something one eats off of! The spatial presentation of the fable is very good. This fox cannot get at these grapes, but the hill lures him into trying it. I have seen this piece offered several times on Ebay but never anywhere else. Are there more plates in a series?
• ABC Plate, The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass
  1900? One ABC plate 6¾" in diameter. The alphabet is embossed on the plate's rim. In its inner circle is a presentation of MSA in brown and white. A seal on the back of the plate is illegible except for its ending: "Sons, England." $55 from Sally Gilbert, Rochester, NY, through eBay, Sept., '02. The plate presents the phase in this story in which both father and son ride on the ass. Clouds, trees, fields, rocks, and a path are visible. I am surprised that this motif would be taken up on a child's alphabet plate.
• ABC Plate, The Dog in the Manger
  1880? One ABC plate 8" in diameter. Various patterns encircle the alphabet displayed on the plate's rim. On its inner circle in capitals are "Æsop's Fables" above and "The Dog in the Manger." $19.99 from stepback-n-thyme through Ebay, Oct., '22. The plate features a strong design of a steer coming through a barn door and finding an aggressive dog ready to defend his place on the hay. Green and brown coloring. There may have been a trademark on the verso. If so, it has been almost all rubbed off. There is one clear crack and one small chip.
• ABC Plate, The Travellers and the Bear
  1880? One ABC plate 7¼" in diameter. Various patterns encircle the alphabet displayed on the plate's rim. On its inner circle in capitals are "Æsop's Fables" above and "The Travellers and the Bear" below a pleasing design of a bear sniffing at the head of man on the ground while his mate climbs a nearby tree. $42.50 from Fletcher Art and Antiques, Warren, Maine, through eBay, Oct., '10. There are three areas of green leaves on trees and an area of blue flowers on the ground. The absentee friend climbing the tree is also colored blue. Is it surprising that neither the bear nor the prostrate man has color? The bear suffers from the regular problem of having a human face imposed onto an animal frame. The word "Bear" in the title is clipped in its last two letters.
• ABC Plate, The Leopard and the Fox
  1880? One ABC plate 7⅜" in diameter. Various patterns encircle the alphabet displayed on the plate's rim. On its inner circle in capitals are "Æsop's Fables" above and "The Leopard and the Fox" below a simple design of a fox looking back at a leopard away from whom he walks. $15 from Robin Jorgensen, Greeley, Co, Sept., '10. A curious feature of this ABC plate is that there are three areas of green leaves and an area of blue flowers, but otherwise there is no color. Neither animal has any color. The leopard suffers from the regular problem of having a human face imposed onto an animal frame.
• Repaired ABC plate, The Fox and the Grapes
  1880? Repaired ABC plate 7½" in diameter. Various patterns encircle the alphabet displayed on the plate's rim. On its inner circle in capitals are "Æsop's Fables" above and "The Fox and the Grapes" below a pleasing design of a fox walking away from grapes hanging from a tree. Maker unknown. $24.99 from Cindy Schneider, Wellington, OH, through Ebay, Oct., '00. Here is a much better exemplar than the plate I had found earlier. The colored design in the middle is very well preserved. Repairs have been made to reinstate a smaller piece from about 10 and 11 o'clock and a larger piece extending from 11 to 4 o'clock.
• Badly damaged ABC plate, The Fox and the Grapes
  1880? One badly damaged and clumsily repaired ABC plate 7½" in diameter. Various patterns encircle the alphabet displayed on the plate's rim. On its inner circle in capitals are "Æsop's Fables" above and "The Fox and the Grapes" below a pleasing design of a fox walking away from grapes hanging from a tree. Maker unknown. $29.99 from Susan Levine, Scarsdale, NY through Ebay, Sept., '99. I have seen ABC plates on Ebay and hoped to land one, but they have been very expensive. Finding a broken one was my lucky way to beat that problem! Someone e-mailed Ms Levine during the auction with the information that it was customary, after a child grew up, to break his ABC plate and then glue it back together. Maybe that is what happened here. Actually, I like it broken! Around the letters of the alphabet are, in order, diamonds, and a maze pattern surrounded with a dark band that reaches to the edge of the plate. Colors are painted onto the central scene: red for flowers; purple for grapes; brown and green for leaves, grass, and ground. Has some color washed off?
• Alphabet plate. "Aesop's Fables: The Shepherd's Boy."
  1840? Alphabet plate. "Aesop's Fables: The Shepherd's Boy." 5" in diameter. $29.99 Canadian from Brian Howell, Rothesay, NB, Canada through Ebay, July, '19. Three features of this plate are remarkable. First, it is to me unclear whether the fable being pictured here is, as I suspect, BW. A wolf is making off with a sheep as a young shepherd pursues him with a staff. Secondly, this is a smaller plate than other alphabet plates I have seen – and the other alphabet plates in this collection. Thirdly, I have learned that alphabet plates were often given to a family upon the birth of a child. That custom fits with the message written on the verso of this plate: ""Grandma Talin's (?) when she was little. Nov 24, 1842 – June 10, 1924." Thank you to whoever wrote that helpful bit of history!
• Aesop Fable Placemats
  2002? Aesop Fable Placemats. 10” x 13”. Based on prints by Linda Powell. $5.95 from Lisa Baldwin on Ebay, April, '03. I knew one of the six images used here from a card I was given in 1985, viewable under greeting cards. Now I have been able to recognize that Linda Powell was the creator of this set of designs, as seen in her prints. This set of six placements seems to include three fables: TH, FG, and GGE. The images are richly and brightly colored.
• "The Over-Fed Fox" coffee mug
  2010? "The Over-Fed Fox" coffee mug. Featuring Gallaher Cigarette Card #24. $18.97 from EclecticRetroBazaar on Etsy, Jan., '23. I am encouraged. I recognized the image immediately and thought it might be from the Gallaher horizontal set. Here it is! My curious mind wonders what brings an artist to select a particular image or fable from the great array that is out there.
• "Mr. Fables Family Restaurants" travel mug
  1982? "Mr. Fables Family Restaurants" travel mug. Grand Rapids, MI. Whirley Industries. Suitable for dashboard use. $16 from anythingeverythingandmo through Ebay, Oct., '22. There is a sticky adhesive patch on the separate red bottom-piece to hold it onto the dashboard of a car or truck, and then one can slide the mug into this holder. The seller emphasizes that "This is an extremely collectible Mr Fables travel mug, and probably quite rare in its unused condition." See also the sets of gift certificates from Mr. Fables restaurants.