Given the Cybis Studio's roots in Eastern Europe it isn't surprising that they produced several iterations of the famed 16th century statue long associated with the city of Prague, Czech Republic (although it is said to have originally been made in Spain.) The original statue dating from the mid 1500s is 19" high, carved from [...]
Month: October 2016
The Cybis Court Jester (or, Send In the Clone)
If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then the Court Jester figure by Cybis should be very flattered indeed. One of the most striking lookalike (copycat) clones surely must be the one that was issued by the Milano Porcelain company. But first, the authentic Cybis sculpture: The Court Jester was issued by Cybis [...]
Tranquility Base ‘Apollo 11 Moon Mission’ by Cybis
It is now 47 years since a human first stepped onto the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969 while the world watched in wonderment. This historic event was commemorated by the Cybis porcelain studio the following spring with a limited edition sculpture. Named Tranquility Base 'Apollo 11 Moon Mission', it was an edition [...]
Born In the USA: Cybis Patriotic Sculptures
As befits America’s oldest* porcelain art studio, Cybis produced 17 sculptures that celebrated the history and patriotism of the United States. Some were portraits, some were representations of our national bird, and some were giftware items. They appear below in order of retail introduction within each of those categories. Portraits The first Cybis patriotic portrait [...]
The Hall of Shame (copies of Cybis porcelain)
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to things like copyright infringement there's such a thing as being a little too flattering! So herewith the Archive inaugurates a Hall of Shame displaying blatant knockoffs of Cybis Porcelain copyrighted designs. There is one item that I dithered over adding to [...]
The Cybis Child Sculptures (‘Children to Cherish’)
In addition to their various child/baby busts, nursery rhyme and fairytale characters, the Cybis studio produced many sculptures within their general category called 'Children to Cherish.' They were all non-limited editions. The pieces from the 1950s and 1960s predated this category concept which was introduced the following decade. On the 1963 price list, the only [...]
Cybis Giftware Items
Cybis Porcelain had a long history of making giftware items, dating all the way back to the first decade of the Cybis operation. (The Cybis vases, wedding-themed items and decorative eggs appear in their own separate posts.) Boxes One of the earliest known boxes has one of the less common Cybis signatures: This 7" x [...]
The Rest of the Cybis Menagerie
After sorting through all of the various Cybis porcelain animals by genre (cats, dogs, bulls and bears, horses, woodlanders, denizens of the deep, carousel creatures, et al.) there were still a few that refused to fit into a category….and so here they are. One of the most impressive Cybis sculptures was the Dall Sheep. A [...]
Spirit of Ecstasy, the Rolls-Royce ‘Flying Lady’ by Cybis
One of the special commissions that is never found in any of the Cybis literature is the Spirit of Ecstasy that they produced in 1979. This was a very unusual piece in that it not only had a restricted distribution but also had numbered artist proofs. “Spirit of Ecstasy” is the actual name of the [...]
Here Come the (Cybis) Brides
Wedding-themed items were relative latecomers to the Cybis retail lineup, not making their appearance until almost the end of the 1980s, with one exception which is noted under 'Wedding Giftware.' The Wedding Party The first Cybis bridal sculpture appeared in 1987, confusingly titled 50th Anniversary Bride. Standing a bit over 12" high, she was offered [...]
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 