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Cybis Holy Water Fonts
The Holy Water Font is a unique and intriguing offering from the studio. There are 13 water font designs known to have been produced. Possibly more exist that have not yet been found on the secondary market. The Cybis water fonts were primarily sold for home use. Early designs consisted of a rectangular wooden plaque with the font attached at the bottom and a decorative component attached above it. The 1950's price sheet for merchants lists nine options available for retailers to order. Each font was basically the same with a different sculpture attached above the font. Two different bowl designs are known to have been used on fonts as shown below. In the late 1950's at least three other water font designs were introduced and sold through the early 1960's.
Plaques below were also sold as holy water fonts
Angel Head-left design #233HWF
Angel Head-right design #234HWF
Christ's Face design #241HWF
Crucifixion Plaque #266HWF
Cherub Plaque-left #267HWF
Cherub Plaque-right #268HWF
Angel Head on pink ribbon #298HWF
Angel Head on pink ribbon #298HWF
Angel Head on pink ribbon #298HWF
Angel Head on blue ribbon #299HWF
Angel Head on pink ribbon #298HWF
Angel Head on pink ribbon #298HWF
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Sacred Heart of Jesus #2017HWF
Sacred Heart of Mary #2018HWF
Sacred Heart of Mary #2018HWF
Later 1950's Holy Water Font designs
Holy Water Font bowl variations
Flared bowl design
The water font above has a funnel shape giving the mouth of the bowl a wider opening. It would not have held as much holy water. This bowl appears to be shallow compared to the cup shaped bowl. The cup shaped bowl holds about five ounces of water. This would indicate the flared design above may only hold three to four ounces of water. This number is speculative until a font with this design is found and can be measured. It is not known if both designs were offered at the same time or if the flared design was sold first and the studio later made the decision to switch to the cupped design.
Cupped bowl design
Fonts with the wood back design had holes drilled in the back for hanging or had metal hangers attached. The water bowl and decorative component above the bowl was attached to the wood with a commercial strength adhesive. After 65+ years the adhesive for many has become brittle and the bowls will easily detach. It's probable any water font receiving normal use had the bowl separate from the wood. If these fell to the floor, breakage was certain. Once damaged it's also probable the remaining pieces were disposed of.
Our Lady of Grace
Released 1950's
Released in the mid 1950's, this later edition was made from three components entirely of porcelain. The font was attached to the shell back which allowed the font to hang. Mary was attached as a third piece to the shelf inside the shell above the font.
Finishes:
Parian white
Parian white and Stained Glass
Issue / Completed price
$10 $10 white
$NA $NA
Design number 2113
Measures 9"
The Holy Water Font "Our Lady of Grace" was sold in all Parian white and in a mixed finish version where Stained Glass was used for the font and shell back while Mary was in Parian white.
All Parian white version shown above.
View from the bottom showing how the font fits into the shell back.
No design variations have been found. The Our Lady of Grace holy water font was retired in 1964.
All fonts were designed to hang directly on any wall or vertical surface. A collector can utilize creative options to display items designed for hanging. A contrasting fabric covered background set in a simple frame compliments the font while creating a unique display.
Holy Ghost
Released 1950's
Design number 2115
Also released in the mid 1950's, the Holy Water Font "Holy Ghost", depicts the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove. As with the early font versions it was attached to a dark rectangular wooden plaque just above the font.
Finishes:
Parian white
Old Coin Gold (possibly as shown on plaque in next picture)
Issue / Completed price
$15 $15
Holy Ghost was retired in 1964. There are no known design variations.
Measures 11"
Measures 11"
The Holy Ghost Plaque (Dove) measures 8 1/2". It was introduced in the mid 50's and retired in the late 50's. The black and white catalog image indicates the sculpture shown was finished in Old Coin Gold which would explain its extremely high $40 price.
Lamb of God
Released 1950's
Issued in the mid 1950's Lamb of God was retired in 1964.
Finishes:
Parian white
Issue / Completed price
$15 $15
Design number 2126
Minor design variations are noted in the three examples above. The middle and right fonts have wooden plaques with beveled edges. This presents well and looks professionally made. The wooden plaque on the left has block style edging that looks fine, but when compared to the beveled edge has an unfinished look. Also note the placement of the lamb on each piece. It would appear there was no set standard for assembly of the components in completing these multi-media presentations. Lastly, note the font on the right. Just below the font is a Cybis badge in gold letters. This is the only use of such a tag found so far. Even after close examination of the actual item, It is unclear if the badge is made of metal or plastic.
Measures 11"
As with Our Lady of Grace, displaying the Lamb of God on a framed background draws greater focus to the font. The wall items group well together when common frames are used.
If the Lamb used on this water font looks familiar it is because he was also used on two other Cybis introductions. He was included in the sculpture Pillar of Families and later in the 1960's where two lambs were attached to each other and mounted on a wooden base. No surprise, the name was Two Lambs.
It is easier to imagine what the other versions might look like when those plaques are placed next to font items. Here the Angel Head #234 demonstrates what the configuration likely was when paired together with the font and wooden plaque.
This holy water font still has its original sticker displaying the Cybis stamp and design number 2126. The font has no other mark identifying it as Cybis, so if the label comes off it would likely not be identified in the future if the font were separated from this collection.