THE CORDEY CHINA COMPANY WAS FOUNDED IN 1942 IN FLEMINGTON,NJ BY POLISH IMMIGRANT BOLESLAW CYBIS. AND SHORTLY THERE-AFTER MOVED TO ITS PRESENT HOME IN TRENTON,NJ. HIS OPERATION WAS SMALL, SOMETIMES CONSISTING OF LESS THAN A DOZEN SKILLED ARTISTS WHO PRODUCED MANY ELEGANT WORKS OF ART. THEY MADE VASES, LAMPS, FIGURINES, LIFE-LIKE ANIMALS AND SIMILAR WARES THAT WERE SOLD BOTH NATIONWIDE AS WELL AS ABROAD.

MOST OF THE EARLIER WORKS WERE MADE OF PLASTER BUT CYBIS WOULD SOON DEVELOP HIS OWN FORMULA FOR A PORCELAIN COMPOSITION CALLED “PAPKA”.

CORDEY’S WORKS WERE OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY THIER OLD-WORLD CHARM, WITH DELICATE FLORAL APPLICATIONS, RUFFLES AND ROCCO SCROLLS. SOMETIMES REAL LACE WAS EVEN DIPPED IN LIQUIFIED CLAY TO ADD A 3-DIMENSIONAL EFFECT.

ON RARE OCCASIONS SOME ITEMS WERE NOT SIGNED OR NUMBERED. BASIC WARES WERE CAST WITH BOTH NUMBERS AND THE “CORDEY” SIGNATURE. THE MOLDED PIECES WERE INDIVIDUALLY DECORATED AND EACH MARKED WITH THIER OWN IMPRESSED IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS AS WELL AS A MARK TO IDENTIFY THE ARTIST-DECORATOR.

THE NUMBERING SYSTEM BEGAN WITH 200 AND PROGRESSED INTO THE 8000′S. PRODUCTION CONTINUED INTO THE THE MID 1950s. BOLESLAW CYBIS DIED IN 1957, FOLLOWED BY HIS WIFE IN ‘58.

HIS WARES CAN STILL BE FOUND TODAY, MOST PREVALENT SEEM TO BE HIS PORCELAIN ANIMAL FIGURES AND BUSTS OF VICTORIAN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I HAVE FOUND HIS VASES RATHER RARE AND WHEN FOUND USUALLY MISSING A PETAL OR LEAF FROM THEIR INTRICATE 3-DIMENSIONAL FLOWERS.

IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND A CORDEY AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE, YOU’VE FOUND A REAL TREASURE! THE BUILDING WHERE BOLESLAW CYBIS MADE HIS BEAUTIFUL WORKS OF ART IS STILL OPEN FOR TOURS IN TRENTON NJ. IF YOU’RE IN THE AREA, STOP BY!