Cybis’ various representations of madonnas (old and newer), other religious figures and popes appear in other posts, but the studio also produced several Old Testament character portraits as well. All were limited editions and are shown below in chronological order by introduction year.
The first of these was Moses ‘The Great Lawgiver’. It was an edition of 750, designed by Laszlo Ispanky, produced from 1963 to 1970 at a starting retail of $250 that ended at $350. In one of the strangest Cybis collection classification situations I’ve ever seen, this piece when first introduced was placed into their “Objects d’Art” section on the Spring 1963 price list. There was a Religious section as well, but this was not placed into it. Even more puzzling, it is NOT shown on that list as being a limited edition! However, the 1967 list does show him as an edition of 750, so perhaps it was an accidental omission on the earlier list.
After dithering over where I should include this 1981 plaque that was based directly on the 1960s sculpture and sold as the Moses, The Great Lawgiver Plaque, I’ve decided to show it here. This was one of two very elaborate framed plaques that Cybis based on earlier sculptures; the other was the Holy Child of Prague plaque.
The original declared edition size in 1981 of 50 plaques was quickly reduced to only 25 the following year. Its retail price in 1982 was $4500 and it was indicated as being near closing. By 1988 the edition was closed. The dimensions are 19 ¾” high x 23 ¾” wide overall, with the porcelain plaque itself being approximately 16” high x 12” wide. All of the jewel-like detail work on these plaques was done by George Ivers who was the art director of the studio at that time.
This watercolor and pencil drawing of the framed Cybis Moses plaque was done in late 1978/early 1980 by freelance artist Cyndy Bohonovsky at the request of the Cybis studio which then purchased it from her. The piece is approximately the same size as the actual plaque, being 17.5″ high and 14.25″ wide; it is not framed, because the rendition itself includes the (drawing of) the plaque’s frame. Because it was a commission from the studio she did not sign it.
Fast forward to June 2013 when the watercolor, along with the #16 plaque shown above, appeared as a single lot auction listing, described as being a “drawing on canvasboard.” Because of the lack of a signature, and probably because the same sale contained several one of a kind actual 1940s Boleslaw Cybis sculptures, the auction house described it it as a “Boleslaw Cybis prototype drawing” which of course is incorrect.
Returning to the actual porcelain sculptures, we have Queen Esther, 13.5” tall, a limited edition of 750 introduced in 1974 at $925. Her price rose to $1100 by the time it was closed at a reduced issue of 650 pieces in Spring 1981. She was sculpted by freelance artist Dolores Valenza.
There are two slightly different versions of Queen Esther as regards her hair. Apparently the earliest-produced ones (less than the first 50) had some some small ringlets as a detail on the side portions of the long hair that flows down her back. These may have presented a production problem because the ringlets were then eliminated and replaced by hair sections with “solid” ends. The photos above, showing one early and one later Esther, point out the differing areas. Many thanks to the collector who sent me these comparison photos, because I was totally unaware of this production alteration by Cybis!
Another possible alteration from the original design may have been her eye and hair color. The Cybis photo in their 1974 introductions brochure appears to be of an example having blue eyes and hair that is so much lighter as to be almost blonde. Was the sculpture in question a prototype or were a few production pieces actually made using these colors?
Noah, complete with olive-branch-bearing dove, was a limited edition of 500 that was only made for two years (1977-1979). His retail price went from $975 to $1125. As this photo shows, he came with an accompanying wood base but it has been missing in almost every example that has been for sale online in recent years. At 21” high he is an imposing figure, and was one of several Cybis that were presented to Pope Paul II during his visit to the USA in 1979 (see Gifts of State for the full list.) He has been incorrectly identified occasionally by online sellers as being “Moses”……must be that white-beard thing!
Bathsheba was an edition of 500 introduced in Fall 1984 at $1975. She is a separate companion sculpture to King David although some examples are taller than he is. Even a brief comparison of pieces sold online in the past several years reveals several that differ from the 14.5” cited in Cybis literature, including three at 14.75” tall. Our 1984 Bathsheba was taller than our 1985 King David, and to be honest it annoyed me so much that I eventually put them on two different display shelves!
Although the majority of Bathsheba sculptures have dark (almost black) hair, at least several were painted with red or auburn hair – as this example shows.
A rather garish Bathsheba in a lavender/purple colorway, marked A.P. This piece also has the aforementioned unusual red/auburn hair. I certainly hope that the greenish cast to her skin is the photographer’s fault, because otherwise she might be mistaken for an Orion slave girl (fellow Star Trek enthusiasts will definitely get that reference.)
King David, designed by Gertrude Fass, is one of the sculptures that the studio seemingly played edition-size games with. His introductory Fall 1985 brochure says he is an edition of 350 at $1475 and is “companion” to Bathsheba. He is shown as an edition of 350 on price lists up to and including February 1989. The next Cybis price list that I have is from November 1993; he is still an edition of 350 (with Bathsheba still at her original edition size of 500) but that list also offers them as a pair for a price that is $370 lower than if the two were bought individually. I do not have any 1994 price lists, but the one that is headed “Fall ’95-Spring ’96” does not show the pair-price option; but it does show an edition size increase for King David, to 500 which matches Bathsheba‘s! The Fall 1997 and May 1999 lists — which are the only other ones I have — are likewise. Based on those lists, it seems as if this is a case like that of Cinderella, Belle of the Ball. However…..it is also possible that the edition quantity change was simply one of many such price-list formatting errors, and not an actual change at all. Here’s my argument in favor of that scenario:
The Cybis studio’s price lists during the 1990s were horrendous; the 1989 list was the last one organized in a sensible fashion, with the sculptures listed alphabetically under each collection heading. The 1993 list does that as well, but not all of the time! Because the studio was experimenting with “Pair” and “Set” pricing on some offerings, they broke the alphabetical listing format in order to group the pair/set together. As a result, the Portraits in Porcelain section — which used to be strictly alphabetical — looks like this in 1993:
Because of the disruption, we now find King David directly beneath Bathsheba instead of being placed between King Arthur and Knight in Shining Armor, as he was before. The problem is that even after Cybis eliminated the pair/set pricing, they kept this dumpster-fire of a format instead of changing it back to strictly alphabetical. Which is why the 1995-96 price list section looks like this:
Here is where King David‘s original edition of 350 seems to increase to 500…the same edition size as Bathsheba above him and Camille below. The parenthetical pair pricing has been removed. The question is, was the 350-to-500 change an error? Looking below them at King Arthur and Queen Guenevere, their original edition size scenarios were the same as Bathsheba and David’s … 500 for the queens and 350 for the kings … and yet Cybis did not increase Arthur’s edition size to match Guenevere’s. And speaking of dumpster fires, that 1995-96 price list as a whole is certainly that. Some of the errors carried over from 1993, but others (such as changing “blue” to “highlighted in blue”, and all of the pieces titled “Angel” being changed to “Angle”!!) are new. Is it possible that King David‘s edition size change was another such error? Maybe. Maybe not. Honestly, nothing would surprise me anymore when in comes to 1990s and later Cybis especially!
In 1983, Cybis introduced an open edition called David, the Shepherd Boy which is a depiction of King David as a child. However, he was listed in their Children to Cherish category rather than in Biblical. His issue price was $325 and he was retired before 1988. Designed by Gertrude Fass.
King Solomon, introduced in the autumn of 1987 at $2695 as a limited edition of 500. He is 15” tall and was described as “companion to Queen of Sheba”. Online sellers have occasionally confused these two Cybis biblical kings (David and Solomon) with each other. Sculpted by Gertrude Fass.
The Queen of Sheba, introduced in spring 1987, 14.25” tall, was an edition of 500 priced at $2295. She is often wrongly identified by sellers as being Cleopatra. However, the only Cleopatra ever produced by Cybis was the bust which appears in the Historical Personages post. Sculpted by Gertrude Fass.
This sculpture has an unusual format for the signature: the copyrighted Cybis phoenix logo is applied in paint instead of as a mold impression.
Thus far, I have seen three different sculptures from this edition and they all have the painted phoenix applied as shown in this example below, as well as having the copyright symbol and accompanying year in paint rather than mold impression. What I don’t know is whether the phoenix logo also appears anywhere in the mold, as it normally would. One or two other designs from 1986 and/or 1987 have also been found with a painted phoenix.
Name Index of Cybis Sculptures
Visual Index (for human figures/busts only)
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