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Keller and Guerin Colored Plates and Bowls

1965?  Keller & Guerin, Lunéville, France have a set of six plates illustrating La Fontaine fables.  Each is signed "Grotti."  $33 for TH and LM from Tori Owen, Ross, CA, through Ebay, February, '01.  $49.99 for three from Charlotte Dailey, Texarkana, TX, through eBay, August, '11.  Further plates from J. Oliva, Tarzana, CA.  I now have all six and extras of LM, WL, and GA.  The second copy of GA was broken in shipping.  And also now a orridge bowl with cork bird illustrating TH.  Signed again by Grotti.  P.F.C.: Porcelaine de France.  €14.95 from maconlection through Ebay, Jan., ’21.

Each plate offers both a title above the illustration and a key line below it. Each is marked KG with a crown and cartouche in gold.  There is also a gold rim around the design of each plate.  The plates are remarkable for their colorful illustrations. Click on any small image to see a larger version.

Keller and Guerin Colored Plates

A particularly colorful young female grasshopper plays her violin while the ant in peasant's wooden shoes carries a huge seed past her.

A dapper fox in bow tie holds out a paw to catch the cheese he expects to fall.  The crow in snappy hat and vest is holding the cheese firmly in his wing as though it were an arm.  A lovely scene!

The rat in this rendition of LM uses a scissors to cut the lion's elaborate net, pegged to the ground in over a dozen places.  The lion sits expectantly on all fours.

The frog here carries a parasol and wears both a vest and britches.  The ox, sitting in human fashion, looks on amused with his arms crossed.

The sweating tortoise in TH rides a bicycle and wears a rider's cap and sneakers.  The hare also rides a bicycle and has goggles above the brim of his cap. 

The wolf in WL wears a top hat, vest, and trousers.  He carries a hunter's pouch and points menacingly at the lamb, who is dressed in children's clothes. Does the lamb have a toy sailboat in is hands/paws?

1965? Smaller set of five colored Luneville plates.  7˝" in diameter.  €60 for the set from fr. Lavi on Ebay, Oct., '23.

The designs here are mirror opposites of those on the colored Keller and Guerin plates just above.  They also lack the golden stripe inside the rim.  I continue to find these designs delightful, not least the tortoise and hare on their bicycles!  After some negotiating and finally purchasing these lovely plates, I discovered the other similar Keller and Guerin plates and thought "Oh, no!  I just bought things we already have!"  Not true, as I found out when I opened them and compared.  I would rather be lucky than good!

Keller and Guerin Colored Bowls

There are also two bowls belonging to the same series.  Each offers the same signed illustration as its matching plate but as a mirror opposite. From issybass for a total of €7.99 through Ebay, Dec., '05.

Here the gold stripe is a filigreed stripe inside the top of the bowl.  The rim is also circled in gold.

The rat in this rendition of LM uses a scissors to cut the lion's elaborate net, pegged to the ground in over a dozen places.  The lion sits expectantly on all fours.

The sweating tortoise in TH rides a bicycle and wears a rider's cap and sneakers.  The hare also rides a bicycle and has goggles above the brim of his cap. 

And here is for me a new kind of bowl!

Keller and Guerin Porridge Bowl

I take it that the inner bowl would be filled with hot water in order to keep a child’s porridge or oatmeal hot in the bowl.  The illustration is identical with that on a Keller and Guerin bowl, and it is a mirror opposite of that on a Keller and Guerin plate.  Why would this bowl not have been identified by Keller and Guerin as their product?  A better illustration is coming soon!