For this 250th post added to the Cybis Archive, I decided to do something special: A re-creation (as much as is possible) of the 1970-1971 New Jersey State Museum exhibit Cybis in Retrospect. However, I have also expanded the original exhibit contents to include what I believe to be some of the best representations of [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
Two of the most popular genre collections from the Cybis studio are the subject of a special exhibit at the Museum of American Porcelain Art in Ohio. The exhibit, titled Circuses & Carousels, is housed – most fittingly – in a room whose construction evokes the inside of a circus tent and/or the top canopy [...]
The Cybis porcelain studio issued two main types of retail sculptures: numbered limited editions which were made in a specified quantity, and un-numbered designs that continued to be produced and offered at the will (or whim) of the studio. Those were termed ‘Open Editions’, and when the studio decided to cease offering a design, it [...]
The transformation from the artist's initial clay model to the finished retail product was something that collectors rarely had a chance to see and appreciate. Shown below are "before and after" photos of a baker's dozen Cybis designs, contrasting their initial (or early) stage with the sculpture that ultimately appeared on the retailer's shelf. Original [...]
A veteran artist of the Cybis studio's 'golden age', William Pae has always been a man of many talents: sculpture, painting, drawing, woodworking and even in the baseball field (but more about that later.) If you have even a nodding acquaintance with Cybis porcelain you've seen his work even though – as was studio policy [...]
As befits America’s oldest* porcelain art studio, Cybis produced 17 sculptures that celebrated the history and patriotism of the United States. Some were portraits, some were representations of our national bird, and some were giftware items. They appear below in order of retail introduction within each of those categories. Portraits The first Cybis patriotic portrait [...]
In addition to their various child/baby busts, nursery rhyme and fairytale characters, the Cybis studio produced many sculptures within their general category called 'Children to Cherish.' They were all non-limited editions. The pieces from the 1950s and 1960s predated this category concept which was introduced the following decade. On the 1963 price list, the only [...]
After sorting through all of the various Cybis porcelain animals by genre (cats, dogs, bulls and bears, horses, woodlanders, denizens of the deep, carousel creatures, et al.) there were still a few that refused to fit into a category….and so here they are. One of the most impressive Cybis sculptures was the Dall Sheep. A [...]
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 