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They
are idolized in song, commemorated on postage stamps, loved by little
girls, and prized by collectors. "They," of course, refer to the Kewpie
Dolls that Rose Cecil O'Neill, 1874-1944, created in the early 1900s.
The idea
for O'Neill's beloved "Kewpies" can be traced to the Greek and
Roman mythology she was fond of reading as a youngster growing up in
Omaha, Nebraska. Her father was a full-time book dealer and the O'Neill
household was never short of books. "They often served as chairs in
our house," O'Neill is quoted as saying in explaining the plethora of
books in their home. Both her parents were creative individuals and
encouraged Rose, the second oldest of seven children, to develop her
artistic talents that were obvious from an early age.
For the
most part O'Neill, who would gain fame as an illustrator, poet, writer,
sculptor, inventor, and suffragette, was a mostly self-taught artist.
At age 14, she won a drawing contest sponsored by the Omaha World
Herald for area school children. By age 19, she had written her
first novel, Callista, and illustrated it with 63 of her own
drawings. In 1893 she took the manuscript, together with a portfolio
of her other work, and headed for New York. On the way to the Big City,
she stopped in Chicago to visit the World's Fair where, for the first
time, she saw the work of world-famous artists and artisans.
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In New
York, O'Neill took up residence with the sisters of the St. Regis Convent
where she lived for the next three years. During that time she earned
her living free-lancing as a magazine illustrator while continuing to
fine-tune her craft. Accompanied by nuns on her sales calls to the magazine
publishers of New York City, her work began to be recognized in the
industry and appeared in such publications, as Bazaar, Collier's
Weekly, Harper's Monthly, and Truth.
Edward
Bok, editor of Ladies Home Journal, was aware of O'Neill's magazine
work and was sufficiently impressed with it to invite her to illustrate
a series of children's verses he had planned for the publication. As
a writer in her own right, the ambitious artist was not about to let
an opportunity slip by to get her own by-line and O'Neill ended not
only creating the round-tummied, elf-like creatures to illustrate the
text but also wrote the stories. The series was begun in 1910.
For a
name for her impish creatures, she reached back to her childhood reading
of Greek and Roman mythology. Her early doodles resembled Cupid, god
of love in Roman mythology, and it is not much of a stretch, a little
change in "creative" spelling, to come up with Kewpie - especially since
Rose is known to have had a predilection for baby talk.
Her artwork
resembling a cupid also illustrated her children's poems in Good
Housekeeping and Woman's Home Companion magazines as well
as appearing in the Sunday newspaper cartoon sections. Kewpies, of course,
were also the raison d'tre of her several Kewpie books. The first,
entitled The Kewpies and Dottie Darling, was published in 1910.
It was followed by The Kewpies, Their Book, and The Kewpie
Primer, both released in 1912.
Rose
quickly recognized her cartoon characters' potential as toy dolls and
her impish creatures began to appear as paper doll cut-outs. They were
the first double-sided paper dolls produced in America. Soon they were
followed by three-dimensional, real toy dolls that children could cuddle.
Her various artistic enterprises made her one of the best known and
highest paid artists of her time.
O'Neill
explained that the idea for her Kewpies came to her in a dream although
it is more likely that the elfin figures she created in 1909 had been
developing in her mind over many years. For example, she had been using
little cupid-like drawings as headpieces and tailpieces for her magazine
work since the 1890s when she worked as a staff artist for Puck
magazine. While she was on the staff of Puck, the prolific artist
produced over 700 illustrations for the magazine. Among them were the
doodles that no doubt germinated into the cupid-like Kewpies.
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We know
that O'Neill had made a set of complete working drawings of what she
wanted the doll to look like but after a day's work the young student's
work fell far short of Rose's expectations. The result apparently looked
like a human child and had none of the Kewpie attributes that made O'Neill's
elf-like imps unique. Rose resculpted the doll to give us the appearance
we associate with Kewpies: an oversized rounded tummy, topknot of hair,
a pair of small wings, sideways glancing eyes, and that definitive,
closed watermelon smile.
The first
Kewpie dolls came on the market in 1911 less than two years after they
first appeared as illustrations in Ladies Home Journal despite
the further difficulties O'Neill experienced in the production process
at the facilities in Germany where the first Kewpies were manufactured.
For some unknown reason the factory where the bisque dolls were cast
did not use the moulds provided by O'Neill. And the results were disastrous.
Although the Kewpie model was made available to George Borgfeldt a leading
toy importer operating in Paris, who ostensibly sent the statue to the
manufacturer in Germany, someone appears to have reworked the mould.
The prototypes of the dolls from the reworked moulds proved unsatisfactory
as, once more, the doll's face and body form looked more like that of
a child and did not resemble the unique Kewpie look that O'Neil strove
for.
To get
the production process back on track, Rose travelled to Berlin where
she provided the manufacturer with a dozen models of varied sizes. The
first beautifully fashioned bisque dolls rolled off the German production
lines in the various sizes modelled by O'Neill. Unfortunately, it was
at a time when copyrights were not respected, or enforced as they are
today, and within a year or so a number of companies in the Unites States
began to manufacture Kewpie imitations in an array of sizes fashioned
out of various materials. Many were made without proper authorization
but little could be done to stop the illegal practice. The most popular
of these "copies" was a celluloid doll dating from about 1914.
Although
the original German-manufactured Kewpies were bisque, later models consist
of wood pulp or chalk due to the shipping embargoes in effect during
World War I. In the U.S., celluloid was the material of choice during
those war years.
Kewpie
aficionados specializing in antique dolls also pursue collateral Kewpie
items such as Rose's Kewpie books, Kewpie illustrations, and the magazines
where these antique dolls are pictured.
Bisque
Kewpies, with their moulded and painted topknot hair, painted-on eyes,
and watermelon mouth might also sport a pair of moulded, tiny blue wings.
One of these dolls, about 12 inches in height in good condition, will
easily fetch more than $1,000. Smaller ones realize substantially less.
Price for a 5-inch doll may range upward of $200, with a 9-inch one
commanding somewhere in excess of $350 depending on condition and how
serious a seller is in trying to make a sale.
O'Neill
was recognized as a serious artist in her lifetime and her work was
exhibited in the leading art galleries of New York and Paris. The commercial
value of her creations was undoubtedly recognized early on as Scootles,
one of her subsequent Kewpie-related doll creations, was copyrighted
in 1928. Soft Kewpies made of silk began to appear even earlier Š about
1925.
In recognition
of O'Neill's artistic accomplishments, the United States Postal Service
honoured her on two separate occasions: in 1997 and again in 2001. The
1997 postal issue depicts "Scootles" on a 32-cent commemorative stamp;
the 2001 stamp release pictures a Kewpie Doll with Doodle Dog issued
as part of a 20-stamp souvenir sheet honouring American illustrators.
Included in the American Illustrators 34-cent stamp sheet are the works
of such household names as Frederic Remington and Norman Rockwell. Expertly
crafted in vivid colours with an illustrated header, the stamp pane
should prove equally popular with collectors of poster art and stamp
collectors alike.
"Scootles,"
the Baby Tourist, was created in 1923 as a realistic looking girl doll.
Although not a Kewpie doll per se, Scootles nevertheless plays an important
role in the Kewpie world: she is a visitor to Kewpieville in O'Neill's
Kewpie story books for children and figures prominently in these stories.
O'Neill's Kewpie-related story books continued to be written during
and after her lifetime by other writers. For some of these books, O'Neill
provided her own illustrations. For example, the most current Kewpie
book, entitled Collecting Rose O'Neill's Kewpies by David O'Neill
and Janet O'Neill Sullivan, great nephew and great niece of Rose, is
a 160-page recent release covering many aspects of the fascinating life
and work of one of America's foremost illustrators.
O'Neill
made one more attempt at resurrecting her creative magic in 1940 with
the launch of Ho Ho, a squat little laughing Buddha. The doll made of
plaster of paris exists in three sizes. Unfortunately, the timing was
wrong with Japan bombing Pearl Harbor in 1941 and sales for the Buddha-like
doll never materialized.
Kewpie
dolls, however, remained popular and many companies, some authorized,
others unauthorized, continued to manufacture them as well as numerous
Kewpie related items such as bracelets, earrings, inkwells, perfume
bottles, salt and pepper shakers, and a variety of smoking accessories.
Also available are products featuring Kewpie depictions on handbags
and purses, billfolds, cups, key chains, lunch sets, boxes of various
sorts, pens and pencils, trays, towels, postcards, stationery, and similar
items.
For collectors
not inclined to spend a near king's ransom for the early bisque Kewpies,
lower priced reproductions are on the market. Although O'Neill stopped
writing books about her beloved Kewpies with the onset of the First
World War but by then more than 5 million dolls had been sold worldwide.
In 1925 she reintroduced them but the beautiful bisque creations of
the pre-war years, by some of Germany's top doll manufacturers such
as the world famous J. D. Kestner Company, did not immediately regain
their pre-World War I popularity. About five years later though, around
1930, they did regain their earlier popularity but as inexpensive giveaway
prizes at fairs and carnivals.
Bisque
Kewpies have today become collectible classics with prices to match.
Because of their scarcity, reproductions have found a niche market and
as long as collectors are aware of what they are buying there is nothing
wrong with owning and enjoying these kinds of items. The problem arises
when individuals purchase a reproduction under the mistaken impression
that it is an original. Many reproductions are of excellent quality
and legitimately produced. Typical examples are the so-called "action
Kewpies." They are reasonably priced and a joy to own. Ideally, all
reproductions should be signed, and preferably dated, by the artist
to eliminate any suggestion of skulduggery.
It is
the reproductions sold as originals that cause the problem. A copyright
sign -that small c in a circle that we see stamped on many products-
is no guarantee that the doll is an original Kewpie. It merely means
that the company producing the doll has been authorized to reproduce
these items whereas unauthorized companies may not replicate them let
alone stamp them with the copyright c symbol. The copyright inscription
is no guarantee that it is an original antique Kewpie.
Of equally
great danger are the repaired antique Kewpies sold as damage free or
"in perfect condition." Some are so cleverly mended that only experts,
with years of experience are able to identify them. One trick that unscrupulous
individuals employ is to paint the repaired doll a shade of brown or
black and try to pass it off as a genuine antique "Hottentot" Kewpie.
Again, only years of experience handling Kewpies can guarantee that
one will be not be fooled by a clever fake. Testing the doll with a
solvent or paint remover, one way to see if the doll received a recent
coat of paint, is usually not an option for a prospective buyer at a
doll or antique show. Caveat emptor Šlet the buyer beware- is the byword
before making a major purchase. It is advice that collectors ignore
at their own peril. Collecting Kewpie dolls, whether antique or expertly
crafted reproductions, Kewpie books, magazine articles, pictures, posters,
or other Kewpie memorabilia, is a rewarding hobby that for many will
bring back warm memories of bygone days. For newcomers to the world
of Kewpies, they hold the promise of a lifetime of enjoyable collecting.
Kewpies
were created to bring a little more joy to the world and they did that
in their bumbling, self-effacing way. As Rose O'Neill remarked, ever
so succinctly, "Cupid gets himself into trouble. The Kewpies get themselves
out, always searching out ways to make the world better and funnier."
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