Karat-gold paint has long been a traditional way to add ‘bling’ to porcelain figurines, although the extent to which different studios utilized it varied widely. For example, it is almost never found on Royal Worcester, Albany, or Connoisseur of Malvern pieces. On this side of the Atlantic, I’ve never seen a Burgues or Kazmar item [...]
Although textiles are far from the first medium that comes to mind when considering the works of Boleslaw and Marja Cybis, they would form a surprisingly notable part of a catalogue raisonné. Boleslaw and Marja were definitely creating textile art in Poland during the 1930s. What did these items look like? In her article Polish Textiles [...]
I’m using the word ‘runaway’ to describe the in-all-directions editions and nomenclature of the star players in the Cybis studio’s late-1980s wedding series. Trust me: The plot of the 1999 Julia Roberts/Richard Gere movie was simpler than this one! Cybis finally inaugurated a wedding-theme porcelain series in Spring 1987 with five open (non-limited) editions. Only [...]
Because the Cybis studio ultimately ran amok with their ‘Collections’ categories, I think it’s time to create a final and definitive overview of which sculptures – based on logic and reason – are connected to the various holidays and celebrations. I have based this solely on the appearance of the sculpture; the assignments have nothing [...]
In 1927, two years after Boleslaw and Marja Cybis married (and with financial help from their parents), the couple began to construct a home and studio in Placówka, near Warsaw and the Vistula River. Boleslaw Cybis knew this area from his time in the nearby Kazimierz Dolny in 1924. Some of the art in Cybis [...]
This post will delve into what the owners of Cybis did to commemorate the 50th decade of the studio’s operation. Some of their choices are rather open to interpretation! In the autumn of 1939, Boleslaw and Marja Cybis were traveling back to their home in Poland after completing their work on the Polish Pavilion at [...]
Are you a book-lover? I’ve been one all my life, although my home library has had to be pared down to only 281 (as of today; I have a few more on pre-publication order) due to limited space, and I’ve no desire to join the digital-book brigade. For several reasons, e-books simply aren’t for me. [...]
I am occasionally asked for advice regarding the best venue in which to offer any of the Cybis North American Indians series. My reply always begins with this sentence: “Well, those can be a bit tricky." The purpose of this post is to explain why. One reason is that the subject of the series (Native [...]
Ever since I stumbled across a decades-old newspaper article snippet about a charity event held in May 1978, I have been keeping an eagle eye out for any of the 50 specially-decorated whimsical animals that Cybis created for that benefit's auction. I have only come across a photo of one of them, which – as [...]
Because more and more 1940s items signed M.B. Cybis have shown up online during the past couple of years, this new Archive post is bringing them all together in one place. It will also examine the mystery of why some M.B. Cybis items were numbered but the others were not! All of the M.B. Cybis [...]
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 