#thebrownies

Important Kaonis Collection of Palmer Cox Brownies Comes to Auction January 6, 2018 in Newport Beach, California

Collector of childhood objects knows that play can offer a respite from everyday stress. Especially when that play features imaginative characters of good will, merriment, and companionship. There are storybook characters such as Max and Moritz, there are Kewpies, and there are comic strip characters. But, first of all, there were Brownies.

Designed by Palmer Cox, Canadian-born in 1840, and early-on an immigrant to America, the young man settled on a career of writing and illustrating books after a stint working on the railroad. By 1882, his work centered more precisely on illustrations for children's fables, and that year his first stories of a merry band of elves, the Brownies, were published in the children's magazine, St. Nicholas. Inspired by the Scottish folk tales that his mother had recited to him as a young child, Palmer Cox morphed the legend of the household-helpful elves into an adventurous and mischievous band of various nationalities and occupations. Their success was immediate and phenomenal, the stories continued, and in 1887 The Brownies, Their Book was published, the first of a series of books about the playful elves.

Marketing courses in today's universities would do well to study the licensing career of the Brownies. Maintaining control of the presentation of his little folk from their creation in 1882 until his death in 1924, Palmer Cox developed their appearance in a vast plethora of products, ranging from toys to books to dolls. Brownies appeared as "spokesmen" to advertise products, in trade cards, publications, and other promotional pieces. There were candy containers, beer stein, porcelain dishes, majolica figurines, and amusing little bisque statues.

Several decades ago, inveterate collectors, Keith and Donna Kaonis came across the world of Brownies. Donna notes, "It was at least thirty years ago when I noticed my first Brownie at an antique show. He was hard to miss at three feet tall with a wide grinning face and enormous eyes." Finding him irresistible, she took him home and, so, the collection was begun, forming into a grand carefully chosen group of porcelain, majolica, paper mache and cloth examples. And the three foot fellow? After years of study and research to trace his origin, a serendipitous finding of a vintage photograph gave the answer. He was made by Schoenhut, and displayed at the 1899 National Export Exposition in Philadelphia. A rarity, indeed.

The Kaonis Collection of Brownies includes two majolica humidors including "Defender", six majolica candlestick holders of various Brownie character, rare paper mache nodder figures, seated paper mache Brownies atop bunny candy containers, bisque figurines of Brownie characters in action scenes, and finely modeled and painted bisque Brownie figures. The collection is being presented for auction by Theriault's on Saturday, January 6 at their annual auction in Newport Beach, California. Collectors are encouraged to attend the auction, and absentee and live telephone bidding is also available, as well as live online bidding. For more details or to order the catalog visit www.theriaults.com or call 410-224-3655.