Abstract

A frog looks on as the mother supposedly shows her child how to walk straight. I am not sure what this fable might have to do with the serving of cake! Over half of the design on the top surface of this serving plate is open space, pond, and reeds. Around the base are two designs, apparently independent of each other: two birds on a branch and a rabbit.

Abstract

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.

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"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.

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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.

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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.

Abstract

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.

Abstract

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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 The Tortoise and the Hare after J.J. Grandville. Grandville's initials are still on the milepost marking the finish.

Abstract

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!

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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,...

Abstract 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,...

Abstract The seller guesses a date in the late 1800's or early 1900's. 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 the plate's center is a fine colored depiction of the two litigants and the judge just as he is consuming the flesh of the disputed oyster. Maroon, tan, yellow, blue, flesh, and green color the scene very nicely. Text is arranged in unusual fashion. Four lines appear with the...

Abstract

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.

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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...

Abstract 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...