No matter how much someone may love a product, there’s usually at least a small “But I really wish that….” caveat lurking somewhere. Perhaps that’s even more true when the product is a form of art. I developed my own wish-list regarding Cybis and thought it would be fun to ask some collectors of my acquaintance for theirs as well. I stressed that, since I would anonymize the responses, it should be no-holds-barred! I loved getting all the different perspectives about what we each wished Cybis had made and had not made in actual sculptures, and had done and not done in other respects as well.
My Wish List
I spent all of the 1970s wishing for Cybis to make a blue Rapunzel, because they said that two other variants would be forthcoming after the first (pink) one. I specifically wanted it to be the same soft robin’s-egg blue that they had used on the Blue Vireo Building Nest and Beau Brummel. The second Rapunzel was apricot, so I waited with bated breath for the final colorway…and was bitterly disappointed when it was lilac.
My two wished-for original sculptures are a portrait piece of the Pharaoh Akhenaten as a companion for Nefertiti (the seated one, not the bust) and also something that would have been a fantastic Bicentennial limited edition: Those famous frenemies, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, seated across from each other while working on the Declaration of Independence. As far as I know, no porcelain studio ever made such a piece. What a lost opportunity!
There are also two sculptures that exist in final model form but that Cybis, for some unfathomable reason, decided not to produce: William Pae‘s Helen of Troy and Gertrude Fass‘ Sinbad the Sailor. I wish they had made both.
As for my I-Really-Wish-They-Hadn’t pieces, top of mind is the Adam Vase which was also sometimes called the Eden Vase. I don’t know what’s worse: The unspeakably bad design or the garish paint job. As far as I know, there was no Eve vase – for which, given the gawdawful gift-shop-import vibe of Adam, we must all be grateful.
And then there’s the probably-early-2000s Sabrina who isn’t on any list that I have but was definitely offered by Cybis themselves on eBay before they got the boot. I have always called her “the lady in cement” because of the ridiculous way her hand just sticks out of the top of the porcelain base….is she supposed to be emerging from water?? She doesn’t seem to be wearing any clothes other than the bonnet. I’ve never been able to decide whether this piece is strange, silly, or an equal mix of both.
My final gripe isn’t about the sculpture itself, but about how Cybis chose to name and market it. If they had titled this 1989 open edition as, for example, “Grandma’s Attic” or “Attic Treasures” or “Playing Dress-Up”, I’d have zero problem with it. But instead they chose to call it Daddy’s Little Girl. What on earth were they thinking? A clearly-prepubescent girl dressed in adult clothing that features a flapper-style string of beads, long dangling earrings, an off-the-shoulder dress, and a mostly-bare leg with a maribou-puff-trimmed slipper, referencing ‘daddy’?!? That is flat-out disturbing. And to make a bad choice even worse, the studio offered to “paint the name of the daddy’s little girl in your family on the bottom of the sculpture”. There was no reason in the world to associate a male with this sculpture…and every reason in the world not to. Unbelieveable.
Okay, moving on to my wishes other than specific sculptures: I wish that they had acknowledged and explained how Cordey was a part of the history of the Cybis studio; had hired a professional website designer instead of putting an obviously-bare-bones homemade version on the internet and with no actual online ordering available either; and had made arrangements to preserve all archival historical print, film, and digital materials pertaining to the studio’s history by donating them to either the New Jersey State Museum or to the Museum of American Porcelain Art. Either institution would have been thrilled to get them.
And finally, the three things that I most wish that Cybis had NOT done:
First and foremost, the Hall of Fame replica editions which were a slap in the face to collectors; it was a betrayal of trust. And in a similar vein, the sudden reappearance of several previously-retired open editions on 1990s price lists and their circa-2000s website; it may have been simply an attempt to reduce the quantity of unsold backstock (rather than creating downsized and differently-decorated replicas, as with the HoF pieces), but that doesn’t mean it was right.
Equally bad was their indiscriminate use of the A.P. designation on sculptures. There is only one historically-accepted meaning for the term “artist proof” which is what those initials stand for, but — as outlined in this post — Cybis used them in nine different scenarios.
And now for some more Cybis wish lists! The occasional comment in square brackets is mine. :-)
Collector A’s Wish List
This collector wishes that Cybis had made “a mother kangaroo with her joey poking out of her pouch” [I would have bought one in a nanosecond!].
“A pair of cardinals on a branch of a fir tree with cones on it. A group of hot pink tulips, designed similar to the Iris. For the portraits in porcelain, the Pharaoh Ramesses depicted as mourning for his son [as in the powerful scene in the movie The Ten Commandments with Yul Brynner as Ramesses]. And perhaps also one of Christopher Columbus.”
“A massive and highly detailed study of the Last Supper. Imagine a piece about 24” long and 12-24” high. If Ispanky or Gertrude Fass worked on something like that, it could have just been absolutely mind-blowing. Of course, it probably would have weighed 100 lbs and been impossible to ship, but it still would have been awesome!”
On the flip side, this collector wishes that Cybis had not made two sculptures particularly: “There are two pieces I despise because of what they suggest, and not because of style, execution or color. The first is Leda due to the suggestion of bestiality (her having sex with a swan.) The second is Daddy’s Little Girl. While there are other pieces that I deem poorly executed and just basically unappealing overall, they do not create conflict within me the way those two items do.”
Collector B’s Wish List
This collector’s wish-list was primarily concerned with how Cybis could have better informed collectors in several ways. One with which I heartily agree is that they could have “[included] artists’ signatures on the pieces, the [introduction] year, the title (not to mention accurate and consistent numbering)”. Most other studios did at least one of these informational basics!
Some other media-material wishes: “Updated printed artist profiles over the years, or accompanying those pieces at purchase. Coffee-table style books which were more comprehensive and perhaps by subject or theme. I would have also liked to see a book showcasing the studio with photos of the artists at work and of course the courtyard which was credited for inspiration.”
In their wish-they-hadn’t vein: “The Hall of Fame series really discredits the uniqueness of the original pieces and I feel it cheated the original buyers who bought in good faith that no editions would be made beyond them.”
“The heads of the Boy and Girl…give me an almost alien sense. They look peculiar to me. Did they paint them to look like ‘American’ features?” [Yes, they did]
“I have Cheerful Dragon, which I think is wonderful but I have also seen some of them offered online which I thought looked like terrible knock-offs because of what appeared to be poor painting of the features and hair.” [The painting on the later ones was often done with an airbrush instead of a traditional brush which had allowed for much finer detail.]
Collector C’s Wish List
“I’ve always been a fan of the Carousel collection; more of those would have been fantastic! And maybe even a trapeze artist…”
“The Arctic Fox is one of my favorites, so more animals that size would be great. And of course, I can never get enough of unicorns and fairies – more of those! And bigger! I [would] love gods with the same artistic feel as Icarus, or Boehm’s ‘Elk and Cupid.’ A friend of mine would have loved to have more of the North American Indians collection.”
“Now, onto the ‘why, JUST why??’ : Creepy Baby Heads – seriously, what’s the deal with those? Some of the turkeys and owls just don’t seem to have much detail; makes me wonder why they were made. And let’s not forget the Children to Cherish – the Playing Leapfrog and Yankee Doodle types – what were they thinking?”
“Oh, and speaking of mysteries, what was up with the ‘Blue Period’? It still puzzles me!”
Collector D’s Wish List
“I wish they had made at least a couple of tropical fish sculptures. I have a few that were made by Boehm and Kazmar and one from Royal Worcester. The dolphins don’t count, because they are mammals.”
“In the Indians series, they should have also made one of a Cherokee and of a Seminole. Those tribes were just as important, historically, as the ones that they did portray.” [Supposedly a Seminole was in the plan originally, but was never followed through.]
“I wish that they had put the name on the pieces, like almost every other porcelain studio did. If they didn’t want to spend money on decals, they could have painted the name, like Kazmar and Burgues did. It would have taken maybe one minute additional time to do, when they were signing the Cybis name.”
In the wish-they-didn’t category: “The small flowers on the 1980s child pieces are terrible compared to the earlier ones, especially the daisies. I dislike the Girl Picking Daisies especially for that reason. The flowers look like badly poached eggs. I truly wish they had never made most of those generic-looking 1980s children. They look so cheap.”
“The Hall of Fame pieces because they were nothing but a money grab. I understand now that they were desperate for sales and were trying to attract new buyers any way they could, but that was so unfair to people who had bought the originals.”
And yet another down-vote for you-know-who: “Daddy’s Little Girl makes me absolutely cringe. The piece itself is not bad but the name makes it utterly creepy and ruins it. And it doesn’t even make sense, because she looks like she’s 10 and that phrase is more appropriate for a toddler than a girl that age. If you call a 10-year-old girl “little” nowadays, she’ll probably hit you with her iPhone! Or a lacrosse stick.”
Collector E’s Wishes
This collector worked for a retailer who carried Cybis, and so their thoughts have the unique perspective of reflecting on which pieces were successful versus not.
“The Children to Cherish were a mixed bag; cute sweet ones like Holiday Child, Melissa and Pandora did well. But some seemed like they were last-minute thoughts just to crank out ‘stuff’ because the collectible market was hot…Sculptures like Nancy & Ned Sledding, Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Little Boy Blue, and Lisa & Lynette were not favorites.”
“When the Unicorns Gambol & Frolic were introduced we could only get a couple. Sold those immediately. Other good sellers were Pegasus and Satin…I wish they would have come out with some similar sculptures and created a ‘suite’ of [fantasy] horses, that would have been a great grouping.”
“Children of the World. I could never wrap my head around this grouping…I do not remember [actually] selling any of them except for Psyche and Eros and Funny Face.”
“The Lady and Man Joggers. I know jogging was a craze during this time but those were just not well executed.”
“Some of the portraits in porcelain were really nice. Those ‘portraits’ that had movement were outstanding. Hope that makes sense: Not just a standing statue.”
Collector F’s Wishes
“One of my favorites are the four floral baskets that were sold as open editions although relatively briefly. While the four they offered were based on the state flowers for the original 13 states, they could have continued to create baskets based on the other 37 states. Since a given basket included flowers from multiple states, I don’t think an excessive number of additional baskets would have been required.”
“I also liked the two Pansy porcelains they offered, perhaps because my paternal grandmother had beautiful pansy beds. You have shown samples of other colorways they apparently considered at one time; I wish they would have pursued at least a few of those.”
“The publication issued in conjunction with the exhibition at the R. W. Norton Art Gallery of the North American Indians contains this sentence: “When completed, the series will consist of between fifteen and twenty-four sculptures representing all the major tribes in North America.” Ignoring the fact that “between 15 and 24” is a rather broad range for “all the major tribes”, I could wish that they had followed through with some of the other tribes.”
“As for porcelains I wish they had not bothered to produce, my only proposal for elimination would be the bunny Mr. Snowball, partly because I do not find it attractive but mainly because when I was making purchases via eBay, there always seemed to be hundreds of that item offered for sale which flooded the search results.”
[That last is so very true; and out of morbid curiosity I just did an eBay search for ‘Cybis bunny rabbit’ listings: There are 92. Within those 92 listings, there are 82 Mr. Snowball being offered.]
Wishin’ and Hopin’
Apologies to everyone who now won’t be able to get that Dusty Springfield song out of their head for the next few hours, and also to those who are too young to pick up on the reference. ;-) Seriously though, I found all of the responses fascinating, particularly because they contained at least one wished-for Cybis sculpture that had never occurred to me before, but that I instantly thought “Yes! Absolutely!” as soon as I read it.
Collector F’s wish regarding the state-flowers baskets immediately inspired a marketing idea. The four open-edition flower baskets were introduced in 1976 and were time-limited in production: Two of them (Constancy and Majesty) were retired in 1977 and the other two (Devotion and Felicity) in 1978. Wouldn’t it have been nice if Cybis had launched a series in Spring 1979 of two additional states-flowers baskets each spring which would only be available to order during that year? They did it with the Egg Vase with Eagle Lid, the Bicentennial Lidded Heart Box, and the white Bicentennial Barnaby the Bear; all of those were available during 1976 only. Later they did the same with Little Miss America which was a 1986-only piece, so the yearly-baskets idea would not have been a totally foreign concept and they could probably have covered the remaining 37 states in a decade. (Cue the next song on the playlist: Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time.)
Many, many thanks to the collectors who shared their wonderful Cybis wish-lists!
Name Index of Cybis Sculptures
Visual Index (for human figures/busts only)
About the Cybis Reference Archive
What is Cybis?
Images of Cybis porcelains are provided for informational and educational purposes only. All photographs are copyrighted by their owner as indicated via watermark and are used here only as reference material. Please see the Copyright Notice in the footer and sidebar for important information regarding the text that appears within this website.
The Cybis Archive provides the most comprehensive range of information about Cybis ever compiled within a single source. It is not and never has been part of the Cybis Porcelain studio, which is no longer in business.
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 