Issued in 1992, an 18 x 25 cm set of eighteen matchboxes illustrating the fables of Ivan Krylov bought at the Kopanaki open-air market some years back from Pontic Greek immigrants from the former USSR. Yours truly being a pushover for fairy tales and fables, how could I not buy this exquisite little item once I saw it among all the other paraphernalia this family had brought with them to Greece?
Fables included are The Broom, The Cat and the Cook, The Cock and the Pearl, The Cuckoo and the Cock, The Dragonfly and the Ant, The Eagle and the Mole, The Elephant and the Pug, The Fox and the Grapes, The Industrious Bear, The Lion and the Fox, The Mirror and the Monkey, The Monkey and the Spectacles, The Quartet, The Raven and the Fox, The Swan, the Pike and the Crayfish, The Swine under the Oak, The Two Dogs, The Wolf and the Stork.
Hi Vassilis - Thanks for the intro to Krylov! For someone with no formal education he was pretty prolific, some of his satirical output downright Orwellian. Those wonderful matchboxes--what treasures you can find in the most unexpected places!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Annie-
ReplyDeleteGlad you got a spark out of Krylov and his matchboxes!