Although the vast majority of Cybis porcelain pieces were completely hand-painted, there were some exceptions to that ‘rule’ at various times during the studio’s existence. Interestingly, the exceptions are remarkably consistent in terms of genre. But first, an explanation of the processes by which a decal is used to decorate china or porcelain. All decals [...]
Category: Identification
The Runaway Cybis Bride (and Groom)
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 [...]
‘My Cybis Isn’t Signed!’ (and why)
Although two of my Archive posts (Signatures & Marks, and Authenticating, Part Two) delve into the subject of the various Cybis signature formats, I hadn’t addressed the occasional discovery of pieces that have no signature at all, despite being undoubtedly a Cybis-made item. There are three possible scenarios that can account for a Cybis sculpture [...]
Cybis Retailer-Event and Private-Commission Sculptures
Back in the heyday of art porcelain collecting, most purchasers belonged to one or more of three general categories: (a) They bought whatever sculptures they liked, budget permitting; (b) they focused mainly on certain genres, which the Cybis studio termed ‘Collections’ – more about those in a future post; and/or (c) they made their purchase [...]
Cybis Porcelain ‘Artist’s Proofs’: Are They Always What They Seem?
Sometimes you will see a piece of Cybis porcelain with the letters AP or A.P. near the Cybis signature; those initials stand for ‘artist’s proof.’ This term has long been used in the printmaking industry. It originally meant the first (proofing) run of an edition of prints, which the artist/painter would review and make any changes [...]
Stylized ‘Helmet Heads’ – by Cybis??
The recent liquidation of the Cybis Studio’s holdings has turned up quite a few surprises but perhaps none so much as a small group of stylized pieces that simply don’t fall into any category previously known. For lack of any better appellation, I’m going to call them the Helmet Heads. This wasn’t actually the first [...]
Old Cybis Signatures on New Pieces, New Signatures on Old Pieces, and A Cybis Sticker Discovered
The recent liquidation of the Cybis studio’s holdings has resulted in some important updates on the ‘identification’ front: One wholly unexpected, one positively perplexing, and another somewhat misleading. A Cybis Gummed Sticker It was common practice for the Cordey items to have a gummed sticker affixed before they went out the studio door; enough lamps [...]
List of All Known Cybis Porcelain Design Numbers
The design number that was assigned to each Cybis porcelain is one of those tiny nuggets of information that once served a useful purpose but is now of value only to research geeks like myself (and possibly others.) Originally, it indicated the genre to which the sculpture belonged and also no doubt simplified the bookkeeping [...]
Will the Real Cybis Madonna Queen of Angels Please Stand Up?
No, I’m really not pairing the chorus of Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady with a Cybis sculpture... even though there certainly were sufficient iterations to warrant it! Although the studio was never shy about borrowing pieces from one sculpture to help create another (see Body Snatching), this particular madonna bust not only kept popping up [...]
Double Trouble: Dual-Signature Cordey/Cybis Porcelains
Despite the pieces having been produced in the same studio, it’s usually easy to distinguish Cordey and Cybis from each other by sight; their styles were very different. Most Cordey items were Old World/European/Dresden in flavor, while the first-decade Cybis retail pieces were either religious (most) or animals and birds (some.) They were also marked [...]
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 