America's
oldest existing art porcelain studio, Cybis is recognized
as one of the world's foremost creators of fine porcelain
art. In a world increasingly filled with automated
similarities, Cybis remains steadfast in its commitment to
create porcelain art in the tradition of the great studios
of China and Europe.
Early China
The heritage of porcelain art is an old one. When the
early European explorers returned from their travels in
the Orient with examples of Chinese porcelain, the western
world was enchanted by this mysterious white substance. In
fact, it was one of those early explorers who gave
porcelain its name. Marco Polo, fascinated by its purity,
named it porcellano after the smooth shiny
seashells found along the shores of the Mediterranean.
Just how porcelain was created was a
secret closely guarded by the Chinese. For many centuries
porcelain was available in the West only to those willing
to undertake the arduous journey to the East or wealthy
enough to pay the price demanded by the traders who did.
Secret Formula
The discovery of the secret of porcelain's creation in the
West may be attributed in part to a nobleman - Augustus
the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, whose
love of porcelain was so great that he erected a special
palace to house his extensive collection of oriental
porcelains. Hoping to learn the eastern secret of its
creation, Augustus offered protection and work space to an
alchemist, Johann Bottger. In 1709 Bottger discovered that
the Chinese secret was combining several types of clay
with a special one called kaolin and firing the results at
extremely high temperatures. Thus began the great Meissen
porcelain studio whose creations today are in major
collections throughout the world.
