12 Silver Metal Knife Holder "la Fontaine's Fables" By Benjamin Rabier And Dilecta

This set of 12 silver-plated knife rests is a tribute to the work of Jean de La Fontaine through the famous animals from his fables, created by the illustrator Benjamin Rabier (1869-1939) and manufactured by the Dilecta goldsmith house, in the characteristic style of the Art Deco era. Rabier, an artist renowned for his animal illustrations, marked his time with works full of humor and expressiveness, capturing the essence of La Fontaine's fables, a classic of French literature. Dilecta, for its part, is a goldsmith house recognized for the quality of its work, combining creativity and craftsmanship. These knife rests are therefore the result of the collaboration between an emblematic artist and a prestigious goldsmith house, which makes them objects that are as aesthetic as they are historical. The twelve knife rests, all different, represent animals from various fables by La Fontaine, offering a great variety in the shapes and scenes represented. Each piece is carefully signed "Benjamin Rabier" in hollow on the base, confirming their authenticity and their link with the illustrator. They also bear the goldsmith's hallmark, guaranteeing the quality of the silver-plated metalwork. Among the fables represented, we find such emblematic stories as "The Cicada and the Ant", where we can imagine the carefree cicada and the hard-working ant, or "The Crow and the Fox", a scene in which the cunning fox flatters the crow to obtain his cheese. Each knife rest seems to capture a precise moment of these fables, bringing them to life through the detail of the animals' expressions and postures. Other fables depicted include "The Frog Who Wants to Be as Big as the Ox," in which the frog is visualized as inflating itself to enormous size, and "The Wolf and the Dog," a fable depicting freedom versus servitude, in which the wild, skinny wolf is contrasted with the well-fed, domesticated dog. Other figures include "The Wolf and the Lamb," "The Fox and the Stork," and "The Rat Who Withdrew from the World," a fable about solitude and wisdom. Characters such as the monkey, the cat, and the weasel also appear in scenes that evoke the tales of "The Monkey and the Cat" and "The Cat, the Weasel, and the Little Rabbit," although the latter knife rest has a slight defect, with the rabbit missing an ear. The knife rests vary slightly in size among the fables depicted, ranging from 8 to 10 cm in length and being uniformly 2.5 cm in width. This diversity in dimensions adds a touch of dynamism to the whole, while offering a certain harmony with the geometric and refined style of Art Deco. Despite their age, all the pieces are in good condition, testifying to the quality of the silver metal used, as well as the robustness of the craftsmanship. Each knife holder seems to have retained the finesse of its details, whether it is the expressions of the animals or the geometric shapes characteristic of the Art Deco period. The slight lack on one of the pieces, where a rabbit ear is missing, does not however detract from the beauty of the whole. This box is available for sale in my shop at 57 rue Victor Hugo, 76000 Rouen Possibility of delivery (ask for a transport quote) You can follow me on my Instagram by following this link: https://www.instagram.com/patrick.boussougant/ Back to the shop: Online sale of antique objects and furniture, purchase in complete security (abnantiquites.com)