There Was A Crooked Curio

We all remember the 

Mother Goose nursery rhyme 

"There was a crooked man"... 

Sure we do, clear as fog, am I right?

It goes as follows,

There was a crooked man, 

and he walked a crooked mile,

He found a crooked six-pence 

against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat 

which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together 

in a little crooked house.

Here's an illustration for that nursery rhyme 

by the famous illustrator Vernon Grant.

image source

Yes the Snap, Crackle, and Pop creator.

 Why all the information you ask?

Well I happen to own a 

little crooked curio cabinet.

It didn't start out crooked,

Sam and I bought it years ago at

 the now defunct "The Great Indoors"

It always seemed very primitive 

and a little rustic in its construction

but very charming none-the-less.

Over the years, the 

dry climate of Vegas must have caused

 its wood to warp,

and develop a slight 

crookedness in its appearance.

It's still very sturdy and 

has become even more charming

and now a bit whimsical too.

And what a more perfect home for 

Ozark's ever expanding 

Dept. 56 Vernon Grant 

"Storybook Village" collection.

I first blogged about it here

Let's go in for a look-see!

On the top shelf is the adorable 

"Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater Cookie Jar"

Styled after this Vernon Grant illustration.

The next shelf down holds the teapots,

Mother Goose and Old King Cole.

I was thrilled to find the 

Dept 56 Mother Goose 

Storybook Village Collection Teapot.

She was scarce on Ebay for a while,

and the cloth ribbon around the goose's 

neck is missing on a few that were 

up for auction.

Again the Dept 56 team did a great job capturing 

her character as designed by Vernon Grant.

including her little pointy nose.

I love how her cape and the goose's tail form the handle.

I also procured Grant's Mother Goose book from Amazon.

image source

get one here

It's chock-full of Grant's delightful illustrations.

Old King Cole is simply dashing!

I love his whimsical crown. 

Another of Grant's ideas!

Little Jack Horner and Humpty Dumpty

are as dapper as ever.

Just how many joints does 

Humpty's left arm have?!?

On the bottom shelf 

something a little different.

An actual Dept 56 lighted house, or Shoe to be exact.

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

Again very close to Grant's art.

They added a few more windows

 and a few less children.

Next to the shoe 

I found a VERY rare item indeed,

The Teapot version of 

Peter-Peter Pumpkin Eater.

I only found a single picture of it on 

all the world wide web for my last post.  

So my jaw dropped

when I stumbled across it on Ebay

one night last year!

It's just as delightful as its big brother.

Peter-Peter's wife looks a tad more sassy 

on the teapot with her winsome smile.

That's the collection so far

in the little crooked curio.

Still on the hunt to acquire a few more 

Department 56 Vernon Grant pieces,

but I'm sure they'll come with patience. 

Thanks for stopping by

and happy hunting!