In addition to their 1990s series of Twelve Days of Christmas and four 1980s angel ornaments Cybis also produced several holiday themed porcelain bells. One series was designed as a tree ornament and the other series was not.
The first in this design genre was the Christmas Bell, originally issued in the 1950s and still on their 1963 price list in two colorways: plain white bisque for $15, and in color (as above) for $18. It is 4.5″ high and was used as a design template for a new series of bells two decades later. The second and third photos compare this bell to their Powder Box With Bird that was made during the same years.
The 1980s Bell Ornaments
This series ran from 1983 to 1987 and was originally called the Holiday Bell series but that name was later changed to the Christmas Bell Ornaments. Because they were intended to be hung on a tree, the bell’s mold contains a round loop at the top.
The 1983 Christmas Bell Ornament sold for $145 and was advertised as being produced only during that specific year. A contemporary dealer advertisement gives its height at 4.5” although many online listings cite it as 5”. The dove is perched atop the bell’s hanging-loop which is surrounded by the holly and berries. The impracticality of actually hanging this bell on a tree is immediately apparent. If a wire or other metal hanger is used – the most secure method – it’s likely to scratch the porcelain at best, or chip an edge at worst. A ribbon or other soft hanger avoids this but is just as likely to ‘catch’ on either the dove or a holly leaf edge. Not a very user-friendly design!
An apparent alternate version is this Bell with Dove and Mistletoe. This one is decorated in green instead of blue; instead of the holly and berries we have mistletoe and berries plus a red bow. It is even more of a “hanging” nightmare – remember that the bird, berries, greenery and bow are all merely glued in place. It’s likely that this bell was created for a retail gallery event, probably in the autumn of 1983.
There now occurs an embarrassing image/info gap regarding the 1984, 1985 and 1986 bell ornaments because I can find no record or photo of them anywhere! Were they produced during any of those three years? I have a scan of the 1986 Fall/Winter Introductions brochure but it does not include a holiday bell. If any reader has a photo of any of these “missing” annual bells, I would love to add it to this post; there is a contact form link at the bottom of this page.
The next documented bell appears in the Fall/Winter 1987 brochure as the 1987 Christmas Bell. It has a pair of white roses on the top instead of a bird – making it somewhat less risky to hang – and the decoration on the bell is now gold over white bisque. The 1987 bell originally sold at $195. A 1990 holiday flyer from Cybis included a photo of this bell titled as Christmas Bell with Holly and also of the Rose with Holly that was supposedly a companion piece to it. No prices were shown for them, but on the Cybis website in the early 2000s this was listed as Christmas Bell for $295. This was the final iteration of this particular bell mold.
The 1990s Holiday Bells
In the 1990s, Cybis began a new series they called the Holiday Bells (reviving the initial name of the 1980s line.) These are entirely different molds and are not intended to be hung from the tree (with one exception which will be noted below.) The bell is 5” high.
This new series was not presented in an annual format but instead Cybis titled it as being consecutive “editions”, thereby removing the restriction of having to issue a new one every year. This reflected the rapidly decreasing market for art porcelain collectibles; the studio simply could not afford to commit to a set calendar-year design/production schedule. However, only three bells were ever offered:
This design was called the Holiday Bell First Edition with Wreath. I have not found any photo other than this one and so don’t know if the interior contains a clapper as seen on the earlier series but it very well might. My guess for an issue year is 1990 or 1991 (it definitely appeared before Nov. 1993) and it sold for $275.
This one was designated as the Holiday Bell Second Edition with Christmas Tree and was probably a 1991 or 1992 introduction. Same price ($275) as the “wreath” edition, although the November 1993 price list also offered the two as a pair for $500, representing a $50 discount from the individual prices. This ‘pair’ option was discontinued shortly thereafter.
There was a third Holiday Bell but I have no photo of it; the Fall 1995 price list from Cybis includes a Holiday Bell Third Edition with Sleigh for $275. This bell must have appeared either in 1994 or in Spring 1995. It continued to be available through the 1990s but was apparently retired in the early 2000s because it was not shown on the Cybis website during that decade.
The (probably) final Holiday Bell also appeared on the Fall 1995 price list, titled as Holiday Bell Combined Wreath, Christmas Tree, and Sleigh for $350. I have never seen a photo of this one either, but obviously three of the four oval ‘panels’ on the bell each have their own decoration; I have no idea what the fourth panel contains — perhaps the Cybis logo or simply the year? This bell, too, could be had during the rest of the 1990s but not afterward.
If anyone has either of these mid/late 1990 bells, I would love to be able to add pictures here; there is a contact form link below.
Interestingly, among the 1990s yearly series of Twelve Days of Christmas Ornaments, the Nine Ladies Dancing is a downsized version of this same bell mold at 3.25” high. Because the mold has no loop for hanging, that ornament was sold with only a length of gold metallic cord tied around the handle (very risky!)
Other Ornaments
The Reindeer Ornament was issued by the studio in 1984 and is approximately 4” in diameter. Its original issue price may have been $145 but this is unconfirmed. This same ball mold was used again in the 1990s for the Five Golden Rings ornament in the Twelve Days of Christmas series.
This unusually-shaped mold appears to have been used by the studio only once, for their Millennium Ornament issued in 2000. Because I have no Cybis price list from that year, I do not know what it retailed for. The decision to attach a sprig of holly where the ornament’s hanging-loop is location seems rather ill-advised, however. Frankly, this doesn’t strike me as one of the studio’s better design efforts! The impressed decorations look very amateurish, especially the sleigh.
The 2008 Cybis web site included, in the “Christmas Ornaments” section, design #A20974 which was titled Partridge Ball Ornament and described as being the “first release in a new series.” [It was also the last, because no further ornaments were ever issued.] Because the website was never updated after early 2009, this sounds as if this may have been a 2008 item. The retail price was $295. This is clearly the same mold as the Reindeer Ornament and Five Golden Rings, with the only change being the replacement of the reindeer or rings with a partridge.
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