Cordey porcelain and china by Cybis

While working on an upcoming estate sale, we came across a lovely collection of porcelain busts that I had never seen before. After doing a little research, I found out that these lovely collectibles were produced by Polish immigrant Boleslaw Cybis, who started the Cordey China Company in 1942.

Cybis actually was born in Russia, but his father was Polish and he attended the St. Petersburg Academy of fine arts. He didn’t finish his degree due to the communist uprising in 1921. He escaped to Turkey and basically worked as a “starving artist” trying to survive.

He eventually returned to Poland and became a professor. He met and married Marja, a former student, and they traveled through Europe painting frescos. Their talents were recognized by the art world and they were commissioned to paint murals in America at the 1938 Worlds Fair.

Unable to return to their homeland because of the outbreak of war in Europe, the young couple started their own china company. Cybis mainly produced dime store trinkets made of plaster until he came up with his own porcelain recipe that he called “papka,” which was easier to work with and produced a higher quality product.

About a dozen skilled craftspeople worked in the factory as well as Mrs. Cybis. The pieces were actually small sculptures that included curls, scrolls and floral appliqués as well as laced dipped in the patka. This company is known mostly for Victorian busts of men and women and the animal figurines. You will also see a lot of the Victorian figures made into lamps.

A lot of the Cordey works were not marked, but the ones that are started with the number 200 and went through 8,000 before Cybis passed away in the late ’50s and his wife died the next year.

A version of the company is still in business in Trenton, N.J., and carries a line of fine porcelain called the “Cybis Collection,” which features Native American figurines. Keep an eye out at thrift stores, flea markets and estate sales for these affordable and beautiful collectibles!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 30 years. She is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her via email at jcfalen@gmail.com or through the Houston Home Journal.

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