Ever since I stumbled across a decades-old newspaper article snippet about a charity event held in May 1978, I have been keeping an eagle eye out for any of the 50 specially-decorated whimsical animals that Cybis created for that benefit’s auction. I have only come across a photo of one of them, which – as you can imagine – is very frustrating for a research nerd like myself! :-)
All of the fifty one-of-a-kind pieces for the May 1978 charity event were open-edition animals, and each was given a unique name. The event was held at the Garden State Arts Center (now called the PNC Bank Center) in Holmdel, New Jersey, to benefit the Children’s Cultural Fund. Google comes up empty for that fund name, although there is a Children’s Cultural Arts Foundation in Atlantic City. I reached out to both to see if they have a record of this event but never received a response.
‘Mystery 50’ Photo(s)
This is the only photo of one of the ‘mystery 50’ that I have yet seen. He is quite dapper with his monocle and bowler hat, isn’t he? He showed up in a brick-and-mortar auction sale in 2020. He is signed Cybis on the underside along with the Phoenix mold impression but has no other markings. I have no idea what his 1978 event name was, but I am calling him “Dapper Dan Dormouse”!
This is the standard retail-edition basis for him which is Dormouse ‘Maximilian’, introduced in 1971.
On page 91 of the 1979 Cybis catalog, there is a mention of this series and five of the 50 pieces that were created. Part of the paragraph reads
…while Max the Dormouse doubled as a professor with spectacles and book…
Obviously that must have been a separate decorative variation, because “Dan” is wearing a monocle (not “spectacles”) and is carrying a top hat rather than a book.
‘Mystery 50’ Descriptions (far too few!)
Because I have never seen the 1978 event pieces other than the one above, I am showing the corresponding Cybis retail edition along with the name and/or description of the event piece as cited in the 1979 catalog and the newspaper clipping.
There were at least two event pieces created with the American Bullfrog ‘Enchanted Prince’ as the starting point. One was named Aunt Betsy Trotwood; she is described as wearing “a fancy apron and bonnet.” The other frog was described in the newspaper clip as
A frog prince with a top hat and tie
but not identified by name (but if he isn’t wearing a crown, how did the reporter know it was a prince? Hmmmm…)
Here the starting point was Duckling ‘Baby Brother’. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one of the Mystery 50 is based on him, but the newspaper specifically mentioned one with “a flowery parasol” (which we can assume is a flower used as a parasol, most likely a daisy) that was named April Rain. The 1979 catalog mention says “flowering parasol.”
The circus elephant Alexander, He’s the Greatest was used for a piece described this way in the article:
an elephant with ears made of butterfly wings, named Papillon
The 1979 catalog describes Papillon this way:
Papillon was an elephant with lavender butterfly ears and a sash
Because Alexander was the only open-edition elephant that Cybis had produced before 1978, we know that they had to have used him as the model for Papillon.
The 1979 catalog mentions one other that the newspaper clip did not.
Sebastian the Seal was a highly decorative “Beau Tibbs”….
This highly specific name sent me directly to my search engine, as you can imagine! This is what it came up with:
Beau Tibbs is a satirical character created by Oliver Goldsmith in his essays, particularly in “The Citizen of the World.” He represents a showy man who tries to appear wealthy and noble despite his actual poverty, highlighting the absurdities of social pretensions in 18th-century England.
Transforming Sebastian the Seal into a representation of the Beau Tibbs character must have had a fun result! Although I’m now thinking that Dandy the Dancing Dog could be a good candidate as well…
Speculation: Other ‘Mystery 50’ Candidates??
Starting with three facts, I can make a stab at which other sculptures the studio might have utilized. We already know of five and that there was probably more than one ‘mystery 50’ created from each retail- piece basis (as we see with Maximilian). Here are the logical criteria:
- An open-edition single animal of a relatively small size
- Can easily have one or more decorative elements added to it (hat or other clothing, object held in paws, etc.)
- Was currently, or had previously been, a Cybis retail edition as of early 1978
So, let’s see which other open-edition animals are candidates for models. This is MERE SPECULATION ON MY PART, but who knows? Let’s use our imagination!
Baby Owl (he would be perfect to dress up with spectacles and a book resting on the branch)
Bunny ‘Pat-a-Cake’ (what might he hold between his paws?)
the turtle from Marigold (an evolution of The Baron, as explained here)
Monkey ‘Bosun’ (many possibilities here!)
Snail ‘Sir Henri Escargot’ (I’d make him a chef. Seriously.)
Dandy the Dancing Dog (give this guy a fancier cane, a black bow tie, and a top hat, and you’ll have a canine Fred Astaire)
Bear ‘Barnaby’ (another could-hold-anything possibility.)
Penguin (this fellow just cries out for a real tuxedo and a boutonniere)
Pinto Colt (he’d probably be a bit too large but I’m including him anyway)
Deer Mouse ‘In Clover’ (if done in 2024, I’d put a smartphone in his paws as if texting; too bad that wasn’t an option in 1978)
Prairie Dog ‘Poko’ (let’s dress him in sneakers and a jersey, and put him on the starting line for the 5-yard dash)
Burro ‘Fitzgerald’ (a sombrero and a serape would not be considered P.C. today, but the event was in the 1970s…)
Combined with the five basic open editions that we know were used for some of the specials, these candidates would give us a total of 17 small-animal starting points that the studio could have worked from. If three different variations were made from each, there would be 51.
The 1979 Cybis catalog paragraph ends by saying that “more than 2500 art patrons from 25 states attended” the benefit auction event, which means that the 50 ‘Masquerade’ pieces were probably dispersed far and wide.
Update, August 2025: I can’t believe that I initially missed this info-bit in the 1979 catalog paragraph:
Derived from the Children to Cherish series, under the title Masquerade collection, the Cybis artists outdid themselves with imaginative concepts.
Although I am glad to be able to put a title (“Masquerade Collection”) to the Mystery 50 as a whole, I am really perplexed about the reference to the Children to Cherish pieces. What, exactly, does that mean? Does it mean that there were child figures as well as animals used as the base models? But if so, why only mention the animals? Perhaps “derived from” simply means that the animals were dressed in clothing rather than being naturalistic as all of their animal pieces still were at that time. If so, it’s a very awkward way of conveying that the OOAK Masquerade pieces were anthropomorphic animals!
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