The Cybis studio published three lists that were titled ‘Cybis Porcelains Are in the Following Collections’. The first one appeared on the final page of the 1970 Cybis catalog and contains 24 names of museums and art centers; there are no governmental/state recipients listed, even though several Cybis pieces were presented to foreign leaders as [...]
Author: The Cybis Archive
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A Mystery Series of Cybis ‘International Children’?
Earlier this year, an Archive reader alerted me to an unusual Cybis child figure and asked what it was. It appears to have been part of a numbered series of child figures representing different countries, but which were very different from the ‘Children of the World’ retail portrait busts. The child figure itself was taken [...]
Cybis ‘Technical Achievements’ Information Sheets
As part of their efforts to educate their retailers about the process of producing Cybis porcelains, the studio decided to supply information about certain pieces they introduced during the mid-1980s. These info-sheets, titled Technical Achievements, were included with the various new-introduction brochures, price lists, and catalogs that were sent to retail stores. Although I have [...]
Cybis Doll Designs for the Hamilton Collection
There are only two known instances when the Cybis studio ever licensed any of their designs to another manufacturer. Both of them were dolls produced by The Hamilton Collection during the early 1990s. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise because Cybis’ biggest rival, the Boehm studio, had been working with the Hamilton Collection ever [...]
Cybis Greeting Cards
In addition to the various catalogs, brochures, and price lists that made up the bulk of the Cybis studio’s advertising materials, there were also promotional items that weren’t readily available to the general public. One example is the Cybis-logo pin/pendant made by Terryberry and shown in the Cybis Jewelry post. Such items were created for [...]
The Cybis Pegasus Colt ‘Free Spirit’ (and Why There are Two Versions)
The Cybis porcelain studio produced three different representations of the iconic mythical flying horse. The Pegasus Colt ‘Free Spirit’, designed by Susan Eaton, is 9" tall and appeared in 1980 as a limited edition of 1000 for $675. Within that declared edition there are 52 that have a slight difference in their decoration, which is [...]
A Look Inside the Cybis Studio
This 200th post in the Cybis Archive is something different from the usual sculpture information. It is a glimpse into ‘life at the Cybis Studio' via photos and contemporary accounts through the decades. The very first Cybis studio was located in the Steinway Mansion in Astoria, NY; nobody who was there is alive today. It’s [...]
A Rare Catch: a Cybis Porcelain Fish
In 2016, when I wrote my ‘All at Sea’ post describing the various ocean-related Cybis porcelains, I ended it with this sentence: Regarding other denizens of the deep, Cybis never chose to portray (as did Boehm, several times) any fish as the piece’s main subject — which does seem like rather a missed opportunity! Well, [...]
The Evolution of a Cybis Porcelain Turtle
If Charles Darwin had regarded the Galapagos tortoises from a commercial, rather than environmental, evolutionary standpoint, one wonders whether his theories would have ended up reaching quite the same conclusions as they did! All kidding aside, I recently discovered a fascinating ‘evolution’ of a turtle mold within the confines of the Cybis studio. This particular [...]
A Cybis Porcelain Exclusive for The First Lady
One of the most rewarding aspects of creating and maintaining this site is discovering the story behind ‘mystery sculptures’ – those that never appeared in any Cybis publications, advertising, or retail stores. Typically they pop up unexpectedly on eBay or within a query from an Archive reader; but one in particular puzzled me for several [...]
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