You may have seen examples of Cybis porcelain art sculptures for sale in antiques stores or online shops and auction venues and wondered ‘What is this stuff, anyway, and what makes it worth more than, say, Hummel figurines?’ This will serve as a general introduction.
But first, a very brief introduction to the founder of the studio.* Boleslaw Cybis (pronounced SEE–bis) was born in Lithuania in 1895. During the 1920s and 1930s the quality of his work was recognized throughout Europe and culminated in the opportunity to collaborate on a series of murals for the Hall of Honor in the Polish Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. Returning to the United States after the Germans invaded Poland later that year, he and his wife Marja established a studio in the NY City suburb of Astoria, eventually focusing on ceramic sculptures in the tradition of the artisans of Eastern Europe. In 1942 they decided to relocate to Trenton, New Jersey. Cybis, along with two financial partners, launched the Cordey China Company in Philadelphia and Trenton to produce china giftware – painted and highly glazed china figurines, giftware, and lamp bases, all lavishly embellished with applied decorations such as hand-formed flowers, leaves, dipped-lace ruffles, and 24k gold paint accents. Under the ‘Cybis’ branding at the first Trenton studio location, a combination of artistic and mainstream commercial porcelain items were produced, especially in the religious genre which the Cordey line eschewed. During the first half of the 1950s the Cordey China Company separated from Cybis and continued under new ownership as a lamp manufacturer.
The sculptures produced during the early 1940s are best described as ‘artsy’ and bear little resemblance to the studio’s subsequent output. They were the sort of thing that Great-Aunt Matilda would probably regard with tilted head and a distinctly puzzled expression before turning to you and commenting, in a desperate attempt to be polite, that it was “interesting, although a bit odd.” One early Cybis bust of a woman has hair that resembles a collection of worms – that sort of thing. The overall genre is that of Neo-Meissen rococo and papka, with applied decorations being overwhelmingly in evidence.
Boleslaw Cybis died in 1957, and his wife Marja in 1958; his protege Marylin Kozuch took over the ownership of the studio as per the terms of Cybis’ wish that the artistic integrity of its work be maintained in perpetuity. Among the talented porcelain artists who were drawn to the increasingly-respected Cybis studio was a young Hungarian immigrant named Laszlo Ispanky who joined the studio in 1960; his influence is seen in many of the portrait sculptures from that era. In 1966 he left to establish his own studio and distinctive line of porcelain sculptures. The Cybis studio moved to a new and much more spacious Trenton location in 1970.
Because Cybis sculptures were created in an artisan environment and never mass-produced, the level of detail work was high. The initial creation of a sculpture was only the beginning of the process. There would then be experiments in colors and decorations via sample sculptures from which the finalized version would develop. The small size and intimate surroundings of the studio, as well as its philosophy, meant that the actual production output was relatively limited compared to the typical mass-market items and imports. The studio utilized both in-house and freelance artists to create the sculpture designs, although the name that appeared on the retail items was always Cybis.
Cybis was especially known for the quality of their human figures, especially the limited-edition sculptures. The original Lady Macbeth – a 13” high edition of 750 within the ‘Portraits in Porcelain’ collection – illustrates the level of fine detail work typical of Cybis. Note the realistic sculpting of her hair and its ornaments, as well as the detailed ‘brocade fabric’ of her gown. Each color on this sculpture, no matter how faint, was hand painted and then fired. Last to be applied was the 24k gold, often with the smallest brush imaginable… yet no errors of application can be seen. At the time of her introduction in 1975, Lady Macbeth retailed for $850 and was $1125 when the edition was completed in 1982.
Similar attention to detail is seen in this special colorway of Queen Guinevere, an edition of 500 that was introduced in 1983. The intricate gold decoration that appears on the inside of her sleeves only hints at the similar level of detail in the rest of her gown and the surface of the throne upon which she sits. (More views of this piece are in the Portraits from Literature post; the creator of this sculpture was Lynn Klockner Brown.).
Cybis also produced very fine animal sculptures with a level of realism that gave each one its own unique personality. These adorable young foxes Chatsworth and Sloane – a limited edition introduced in 1986 for $495 – are almost irresistible with their bright eyes and alert expressions. Lynn Klockner Brown created this sculpture also. Examples of other animal studies can be seen in the Into the Woods with Cybis and Cybis Horses posts.
Cybis was somewhat less successful with their flower sculptures. Although the delicacy and beauty of their applied flower decorations cannot be denied, the sculptures that are entirely floral studies can look a bit heavy when compared to examples from Boehm, their cross-town porcelain-art rival, or those made by Connoisseur of Malvern and Royal Worcester. Both of those British studios produced incredibly-detailed floral studies in a finer porcelain quality than any of their American counterparts were using.
As for birds, Cybis was also up against some pretty stiff competition from avian specialist sculptors across The Pond. The majority of their bird sculptures are well done but most are not what can honestly be described as spectacular. On the other hand, a few of their limited-edition bird sculptures such the Great White Heron, the Great Horned Owl ‘Koos Koos Koos’, the Kestrel, and the Australian Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos are the equal of many Boehm pieces. Cybis’ best bird and wildlife studies, which are indeed magnificent, were created by freelance sculptor Charles Oldham. Unfortunately, the Cybis studio kept the identity of almost all of the artists a closely-guarded secret. However, those talented people are now finally being given the credit that they deserve, and I am proud to say that The Cybis Archive was in the forefront of that effort.
* There is a complete timeline of the lives of Boleslaw and Marja Cybis in this Archive post.
Name Index of Cybis Sculptures
Visual Index (human figures and busts only)
About the Cybis Reference Archive
Images of Cybis porcelain sculptures are provided for informational and educational purposes only. All photographs are copyrighted by their owner as indicated via watermark and are used here only as reference material. Please see the copyright notice in the footer and sidebar for important information regarding the text that appears within this website.
The Cybis Archive provides the most comprehensive range of information about Cybis within a single source. It is not and never has been part of the Cybis Porcelain studio, which is no longer in business.
THE CYBIS ARCHIVE 