Despite the title of this post, Cybis never produced a hockey sculpture but they did take to the ice with a trio of figure skaters in consecutive years during the 1980s. All were limited editions of 750 initially priced at $625; a Cybis price list from 1988 shows an increase to $675, and then to [...]
‘Portraits in Porcelain’ was the category name given by Cybis to their limited edition full-figure studies of characters from history, literature and the performing arts. These covered a wide range of subjects and sometimes more than a bit of artistic license was used in the portrayals, but a number of the Portraits can be counted [...]
One of the most notable achievements of the Cybis Studio during its almost 75-year existence was their North American Indians collection. Inaugurated as a limited series beginning in 1969, their finely detailed representations of the major Native American tribes have been widely appreciated by collectors. Boleslaw Cybis was fascinated by the native peoples of his [...]
In addition to their nativity sets and ornaments Cybis produced some child figurals known as the Holiday Children. Although made from only two basic molds they have been offered as various issues at different times. They were all non-limited editions, 5.25” high. The first was the 1980 Holiday Child who is looking down into a [...]
Turning now from the mythological and Shakespearean genres to a more wide-ranging overview of the literary characters as portrayed by Cybis, we find that quite a few of them are from the medieval era. The bust of Beatrice, from The Inferno, is 12” high overall and a limited edition of 700. Designed by Laszlo Ispanky, [...]
Continuing the review of Cybis’ literature-based portraits naturally leads to their interpretations of characters and creatures from Greek, Roman and Asian mythology. The actual appearance of the first two mythological studies is unknown. One, titled Greek Head, is known only from a single text list of names in the 1974 catalog; I am going to [...]
What better way to start a four-part review of the Cybis ‘literature-based’ studies than with their interpretations of Shakespeare’s immortal characters? I shall leave it to my readers to judge whether or not they think that The Bard would be pleased! But first a quick word about the "Portraits in Porcelain" as Cybis categorized them. [...]
The circus theme was a popular one for Cybis porcelain; it was represented continuously in both human and animal studies ever since the first two in that genre were introduced in 1975. Only four of the circus sculptures were declared to be limited editions. Barnaby, an open edition introduced in 1975, was originally named ‘Barnaby’ [...]
Although Cybis never created any sort of 'maritime collection', a selection of their sculptures do fit into a seagoing theme – so, why not? The very first sea-based Cybis is also the only piece they ever made that specifically depicts a fish, although two other much-later pieces do include a fish as a decorative element. [...]
Cybis produced ballet sculptures ever since the early days of the ‘modern’ studio; the earliest example was introduced in 1960. New ballerina sculptures in both limited and non-limited editions were issued through the 1980s and likely beyond. The fifteen designs are illustrated below in chronological order. Ballerina ‘Red Shoes’ was made both in decorated and [...]
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 