Because there are relatively few surviving records of the first decade of Cybis porcelain retail items, it’s always exciting when something comes to light that was never mentioned in any of their publications. Invariably, the circa-1950s human figures turn out to be religious subjects: a madonna, a saint, or a Jesus figure. So, when an [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Isn’t it odd how one mystery can lead to another, entirely different, one? Such was the case with a puzzling single piece of Cybis that surfaced some months ago. It was among a private collection being liquidated by the family of an enthusiastic collector who also knew the studio owners personally from the 1950s onward. [...]
If you have not been able to identify a Cybis human-figure sculpture because you do not know its name and thus cannot find it in the Name Index, this page may be able to help. IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU EXAMINE THE VISUAL INDEX, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FIGURE IS NOT SHOWN [...]
One of the fascinating aspects of chronicling Cybis Porcelain sculptures is how often a piece that appears simple and straightforward can turn out to have a complicated ‘life story.’ Take, for example, the one known to most collectors as First Flight. There are four known versions of this design – if versions is indeed the [...]
Most Cybis collectors are familiar with the piece colloquially known as The Polish Bride, which was based on a 1937 oil painting by Boleslaw Cybis, but until recently I was unaware that the studio produced a second sculpture based on a different – but strikingly similar – painting. Unlike The Bride, whose origins and production [...]
A recent observation by a sharp-eyed Archive reader regarding the sculpture Cree Indian ‘Magic Boy’ and its two Cybis editions has blossomed into a fascinating in-depth examination of this particular piece’s production history. It turns out that this design has had a rather unique ‘life story’ in several respects! The first unusual thing about ‘Magic [...]
The Cybis archive 