The Grasshopper and the Ant Cookie Tub, 1980

Item

Identifier: CFC2018.0146.1

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Carlson Fable Collection is a gathering of primary fable materials at Reinert Alumni Memorial Library at Creighton University. It grew out of the personal collection of fable materials gathered by Rev. Gregory Carlson, S.J. and was given to the Creighton Libraries in 1996. There are more than 10,000 books and approximately 8,000 artifacts in the collection.

From plates to stamps, from cards to whiskey decanters, from toys to posters, you'll find just about anything you can imagine here. Please explore all that is to offer here in my fables Catalogue of Objects.

This is the largest online catalog of fable related objects on the internet. Many are from Aesop's Fables but you will find La Fontaine, Velazquez and Krylov also represented in this collection.

Dates

1980

Extent

1 Container : Delacre French cookie tub. "Fables de La Fontaine: La Cigale et la Fourmi." ; 7" x 6" x 6" high

Language of Materials

French

Additional Description

Abstract

Here is GA, dramatically presented in five cartoon panels around this oval tin. The title of this fable stands over the first two panels. Each panel is accompanied by two to five lines of La Fontaine's text. The cicada wears full clothing with even an outer coat, headscarf, and heavy outer scarf in winter. Scenes #1 and #4 are quite similar, as the latter is a recollection of the former. To my surprise, the ant moves out of her house in the last panel as she berates the crow, who is surprisingly sitting. The ant had been outside also in Scene #2. The cover presents a summertime scene of argument between the two figures, along with the overall title "Fables de La Fontaine." The tin is in very good condition. The bottom gives a picture of the sorts of cookies one would find in this tin.