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Fox and Hare Knife Holders 1990? Two knife-holders presenting a fox and a hare. 3½" x 1½" (hare) and 4" x 1". Unknown source.
The elongated bodies fit with their role as knife-rests. Is there a fable of a fox and a hare? Yes, says Northcote, who presents this story: " A little timorous Rabbit, who had a safe retreat in his burrow underground, had often perceived an artful Fox lurking near the spot, as if watching for the first opportunity to seize and devour him. However, he lay secure for the present, as the Fox could not enter the small burrow. One day, soon after, the devoted Rabbit saw the Fox in deep confabulation, and seemingly in great amity with the Weasel. This, he conjectured, boded no good to himself, as he found but too soon to be the case; for presently after the Weasel entered his burrow, and attacked him with such fury and fierceness, that he had no other chance of saving his life but by flight. But no sooner bad he darted from his burrow, than he immediately found himself seized on by the Fox; who, together with the Weasel, began to tear him in pieces, when thus the unfortunate victim of their arts, in his dying agonies, uttered his complaint: “I foresaw that my doom was determined on when you two counseled together.” I presume that I acquired these as fable knife-rests. I have not been able to identify a larger set to which they might belong.
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Ceramic knife-holders as books 1980? Ceramic knife-holders as books. GA and LM. Green with gold highlights. 3" x 1". €18 from mathilde9662, Jan, '22. Two duplicates and four other members of the series -- LM, WL, TH, and FC -- found earlier from an unknown source.
There is an extra of LM and an unhighlighted extra of GA. The highlights accent parts of the picture and the capital letters in the title. I have searched the web for further members of this set, with no luck yet. Might these be less good than knife-rests with a level center?
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Three Knife Rests 1920? Three more kniferests in the same style: "Heron," FG, and FC. Stephane Prudhomme? €60 from Eric Lussot, Le Rheu, France, through Ebay, Sept., '20.
I worked hard to track the silvermarks on these three very nice kniferests. On the web they are declared to be by Stephane Prudhomme by at least one seller. Elsewhere they are grouped with the two already on this page. I tried hard to photograph the silversmith's "mark" but can only get a blurred representation. The scenes on the two above and on the three here are much more developed than those on the Prudhomme set of twelve listed nearby on this website.
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Two simple knife rests 1920? Two simple knife rests or porte couteaux, about 3⅜" inches long, made from folding over a plate of metal to form a triangular tent. On one panel of each is a fable scene: 2P or TH. Unknown source.
The designs on these two are really quite intricate and include a good background: the houses, trees, and fences along the road of the race in TH and the vegetation along the trail for the iron and clay pots. I wish there were some markings to identify the maker of these lovely knife rests!
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Benjamin Rabier Knife Rests 1920?Ten knife rests or porte couteaux, about 3½" inches long, representing Benjamin Rabier's presentations of La Fontaine's fables. Extras of FC and "Two Mice and an Egg." Silvermaker: Devouge Dupont. $350 for ten from paintingmorningstar through eBay, Nov., '05. Two for $89.95 from Nina Lindzon, through Ebay, Oct., '01.
I first saw these—and was delighted with them--in the Clingnancourt flea market several years ago. I believe that the full set includes twelve. Each knife rest has been individually cast and is stamped with the signature, "Benjamin Rabier" and with the mark of the silvermaker in the form of a rectangle with the initials "P + a Spoon + D". The knife rests catch both something of the Art Deco era and of Rabier's continuous wit. In TH, the connection of the fencepost to the ground at the bottom of the hare's back paws is loose.
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Stephane Prudhomme Knife Rests 1930 Complete set of twelve silver plated kniferests (portes couteaux) by Stephane Prudhomme illustrating favorite fables. Apparently in the original box. $154.71 from brocs_en_stock on Ebay, Jan., '18.
Each knife rest is a panel 3¼" wide and 1" high supported by triangles on the edges, whose other two sides are ¾" and 11/16". A sale on the internet was helpful for identifying this set as coming from Prudhomme. The small square towards the left edge in the top frame presents Prudhomme's mark, S and P around a caduceus. It took a high-resolution scan to produce the picture below of that mark. The twelve fables presented include expected standards like TMCM, CJ, GA, FS, WL, 2P, "The Hares and the Frogs," and "The Heron." There is also Florian's "The Monkey and the Magic Lantern. Three others are harder, at least for me, to identify. Is one "The Fox and the Cat"? What is the small object in their image? In another, two fowl seem to be arguing over a snail. In a final knife-rest there are three birds: might they be the mother lark and her young?
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Two Tall Water Glasses 1990? Two tall water glasses with bold black designs and morals. FG and TH.
The hare is nicely slumped over as he sits leaning against a tree. The TH moral is a clever adaptation of the usual moral: "Slow but sure is quickest in the end."
The inspiration for the FG design looks very much like Artzybasheff's squirming fox. The moral is, I would say, surprising: "Don't try to fool yourself." I gather you will not succeed.
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Amora Mustard Jars/Juice Glasses 1980? Eight Amora mustard jars. Usable as drinking glasses. Amora: Le Moutarde de Dijon."
The yellow of the mustard would have brought out the color of at least most of these jars. Amora pushed this series, following up with blotters and dust jackets.
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Fox and Stork Cup 2000? Brown and cream cup featuring FS. Katherine Hackl, Spindletop Studios, Stockton, NJ.
A fox with an attitude looks directly at a peaceful stork standing over a vase. Plants fill in the open spaces on this almost geometric cup. The base of the cup is stamped with a fish.
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Tortoise and Hare Cup 1996 Black and white cup featuring Robert Dole and Bill Clinton as tortoise and hare. Artist: Milt Prigee. China: Linyi. Silver phr nix. $1 from Sharon and Kelly Smith, Hayden ID, through eBay, August, '04.
The curious thing about the design on this mug is that Clinton is heading in one direction and Dole is heading in the other! The design is signed ""MPriggee. KPBX. '96. Spokane."
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Fox cup 1995? Gray and brown cup with black lettering and brown figure. "If you deal with a fox, think of his tricks. Jean de La Fontaine." Made in Japan. Annamieke Laport, Salem, OR, through eBay, August, '
A good question would be: "Which fable of La Fontaine does this come from?" Often the fox in La Fontaine seems wise but comes up losing, as when the cat does better with its one trick of climbing the tree than the fox does with his hundred dodges. The crow in FC can certainly learn frm the fox's tricks. The fox on this cup has a suitcase -- or at least a valise -- ready to go.
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Wolf and Crane Cup and Saucer 1950? Matching cup and saucer with the former featuring WC flanked by a tree group and a fence group. The saucer offers three images apparently not directly related to fables: dogs pointing, wolves (?) attacking a lamb, and a pheasant. The cup stands 2.25" high and has about the same diameter, and the saucer is a little over 4.5" in diameter. White (porcelain?) with gray illustrations. There is one serious chip in the cup. $8 from John Cawley, Blue Jay, CA, through Ebay, Feb., '00.
A small, dainty set. Maybe the biggest surprise lies in the way it moves from a fable scene on the cup to three generic animal scenes on the saucer. Might this have belong to a child's set? It seems small for adults. I am not sure that I want, while eating, to look at a stork putting his beak down a wolf's throat!
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Vintage Cigarette Box and Ashtray 1920? Vintage pottery cigarette box and ashtray. 5¾" x 6" x 4" in height. $6.37 from Margy Farmer, Greenfield, IN, through Ebay, Sept., '00.
Vintage pottery cigarette box and ashtray, with bunches of grapes on either side of the ashtray, one fox between the grapes and the box, and a second fox serving as the handle of the box. His tail has been repaired. Click on the image to see a larger reproduction.
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German Red & Grey 1920? Coordinated set of nine tin tableware implements. German? $80 from Claudia and Waltraud Pressler, Ellhofen, Germany, Sept., '01.
There is even a strainer to hang on the wall rack. The set, with a grey background, features three motifs in red-and-black coloring:
TH: The hare reads the paper while the tortoise trudges by.
FC: The crow in a tree holds a large cheese suspended above the fox's mouth.
FS: The fox raises a paw to a tall bottle in which the stork has his beak.
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Golden Plates 1910? Six Tin Tea Set Plates. Each 5.5" in diameter. FC, FS, OF, and WL, with extras of OF and WL. $45 each for three from Ray Hanson, Garland TX through Ebay, Feb., '99. Three further plates from another source at another time.
The curved edge of each, almost an inch in width, has a green, gold, and red pattern. Then in the center is a multicolored illustration. OF is the best preserved of the original set; it seems to lack the pock-marking of the other two. All three show some rust and staining. They may have spent some serious time in someone's attic or even sand-box! FC is the most worn of the later three. In fact, OF and WL are in very good condition. What a great and curious find!
FS: Here the disgruntled fox stands away from the stork and his vases and looks at the viewer.
OF: The composition of the design balances the two main animals, frog and ox, nicely. In a moment, this scene will not be so placid!
WL: The wolf towers over the lamb. A viewer who wants to check can find that the water is indeed moving from the wolf to the lamb. Another pleasing composition!
FC: The fox already has the cheese well in control under his paw. Might this be the place where, in La Fontaine's version, the fox is telling the crow that it is worth a cheese to learn that flatterers exist at the expense of those silly enough to believe them?
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Fox and Grapes Tray
This tray may or may not belong to the set. It has the same theme of floral patterns in front of a bright red background. It features FG. 11 3/8" x 7½". Whether through scratches or just age, the metal shows through the painted design at a number of small spots on the upper surface of the tray. $65 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, August, '00.
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Two Fox and Stork Sauers Two such FS saucers, 3 3/8" in diameter, match the cups just above. Two exemplars. $12 each from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, Nov., '00.
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Two Fox and Stork Cups These two FS cups, 1½" high, are identical. $12 each from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, Nov., '00.
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Fox and Crow Saucer This FC saucer, 2¾" in diameter, matches the cup just above. $15 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, August, '00.
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Fox and Crow Cup This cup, 1½" high, has its handle and features FC. $25 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, August, '00.
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Wolf and Lamb Saucer This WL saucer, 2¾" in diameter, matches the cup just above. $15 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, August, '00.
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Wolf and Lamb Cup This cup, 1½" high, features WL but it has lost its handle. It has "Germany" printed near its seam. $12 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, Nov., '00.
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DLS Cup This version of the same DLS cup, 1½" high, kept its handle but received some dents along the way. This cup has "Germany" printed alongside its handle. $12 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, Nov., '00.
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DLS Handle-less Cup
This handle-less cup, 1½" high, shows DLS. The DLS scene is surprising in that the donkey is moving left in the left half of the panel, and the sheep in the right half are moving right. $36.99 from Jo-Ann Deacon, Hamilton, Ontario, through Ebay, Feb., '00.
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Fox and Stork Teapot This teapot, just over 2" high and with a handle going even higher, is missing its spout. It has the same FS scene as above, though some heavy rust obscures it. $5 from Marlene Schmidt, Readlyn, Iowa, Nov., '00.