Although there are several Archive posts showcasing some unusual or odd Cordey figurines, I decided that a similar post about Cordey lamps would be an interesting companion. A few of them still have their original lampshades, just as they were sold during the 1940s or 1950s. We’ll start this overview with a bang, and a [...]
This latest group of unusual Cordey pieces also includes the four known styles of ‘couples’ (two figures on a single base), and a very unusual large trinket box. Décor Items Although this small (6.5” high) vase is often found in color, it was fairly rare for Cordey to produce anything in plain, undecorated white. This [...]
As mentioned in my recent post about Chantilly China, the Cordey China Company had yet another lookalike product in the 1940s home décor market. Unlike Chantilly, this other company – Heirlooms of Tomorrow – was based not in Trenton, but on the west coast. The brand ‘Heirlooms of Tomorrow’ was launched in 1944 in Manhattan [...]
This companion article to my Cordey Lamps in Vintage Ads post will look at their human figures and home décor objects. I’ve combined the two genres because most retailer ads contained both; ads showing Cordey lamps usually showed only those. Retailer ads for Cordey items first appeared within a year of the company’s 1942 incorporation. [...]
Never let it be said that Cybis vs. Boehm was the only cross-town porcelain rivalry in Trenton: Before that, there was Cordey vs. Chantilly! There were actually two Cordey lookalike/wannabe companies operating during the 1940s and 1950s, but Chantilly was the one who shared Cordey’s turf. Chantilly’s legal history has been frustratingly hard to trace, [...]
Among the several distinct style genres of Cybis porcelain (papka, artsy 1940s porcelain, 1950s commercial-mold, and post-1950s) there is a small subset that I call ‘Cordey-Cybis transitional.’ In a nutshell, these are pieces that anyone would mistake for Cordey items except for the fact that they are signed M. B. Cybis, or stamped Cybis, instead [...]
The next several Cordey posts in the Archive will take a look at the history of the company through vintage retailer advertising, accompanied by examples of the actual items that were sold at the time. This first instalment in the series will focus exclusively on the Cordey lamps. A general timeline of the company’s corporate [...]
One of the most enjoyable things about creating the Cybis Archive has been hearing from readers who have questions about Cybis or information to share. This is particularly true in regard to the 1940s and 1950s pieces, many of which were either never documented by Cybis or their original information has been lost. An especially [...]
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