34 



PROVERBS. 



sexes. They were inserted, also, in the stained-glass windows, and upon the 

 carved furniture (Fig. 287), as also upon drinking-glasses and other articles of 

 daily use. One of the rooms in Agnes Sorel's Chateau de Beaute was paved 

 with squares of painted delf, upon which were inscribed witty proverbs. Many 

 shopkeepers' sign-boards displayed proverbs suitable to their trade, and it was 

 the custom of booksellers and printers to add a proverb to the tokens which 



Fig. 287. A Comb, made of Carved Wood, of the Fifteenth Century. Upon one side are Ihe words 

 " Erenee en gre," and upon the other, " Ce petit doun." In the Collection of 31. Achille 

 Jubinal. In the centre of the inscription is a puzzle, representing a flower, a flaming heart, 

 and an arm holding a dnrt, with the two letters M. P. It was colloquially said of a passionate 

 man that he wou'd kill a mercer for a comb. 



they placed upon the title-page of their books (Figs. 288, 289, and 293). 

 Some of these proverbs were facetious, but most of them were of a graver 

 kind 



There are to be found in several public libraries various collections of pro- 



