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.
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.
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!
