I inherited my family's Christmas creche, which from the appearance of the shepherds - the youngest is a bit of a matinee idol - dates from the twenties. Over the last 90 to 100 years, this plaster set sometimes develops a few little dings; this year, the ram came out of its wrappings with a broken neck. However, a quick visit to This to That, the excellent gluing site, had him almost as good as new. I can't ever remember our camel not having had a broken neck!
The group at the right with the ox survived the last Christmas;however, the group on the left all needed tiny touch-ups. Our Baby Jesus looks far too old to still be in the manger, he appears to be school age.....
There are three kings with a camel and a gentleman to hold on to the camel, three shepherds, the ox and the ass, half a dozen sheep - one ram, one lamb, and several ewes - along with a dog to take care of them all, and of course, the angel, as well as Mary, Joseph and the baby. Our original stable was a grotto, made by my father from a wire mesh frame covered in brown paper, and then painted and aged. A manger hung on the back wall, and there was a cooking set-up made up of a small tin can cauldron on chains hung a wooden tripod; these survived our move to Canada, but the grotto never made it to my house. We now have a simple wooden frame stable.
(I'll let you in on a secret; I had a crush on the young kneeling shepherd when I was a child, but thought the standing one was pretty cute too. The kneeling shepherd is an older man.)
It took a fair bit of paint mixing to retouch everything! The king in the orange cloak has gold-tone boots, and as one toe was chipped, I replaced the black undercoat and then used my finger to spread a bit of gold. Now, once they're dry, they can go back into their boxes until Christmas 2022.
The set is quite large; the standing figures stand 9.5 to 10" (24.5 to 25.5 cm); I guess the camel must be a special, smaller breed.....
I, too, have an old plaster set - just Mary, Joseph and Jesus, that belonged to my MIL but is in dire need of repair. They have remained in their box now for years. I must get it out and see what I can do. These memories remain special to us.
ReplyDeleteThis is all very interesting. When I was a teenager, my mother and my mother received this same set as a Christmas gift from my grandmother. My grandmother had a friend who had a ceramics studio. That friend cast the figures (not as many as you have) in porcelain and instructed my grandmother in painting them with mat glaze. The friend added lovely faces and embellishments. Then they added jewelry adornments. They are amazing. I received the set from my mother and have since passed it to my daughter.
ReplyDeleteThis particular set is painted plaster (hand-painted), and on the side of the ox is an imprint that says, Made in Holland. On the back side of the ox is an illegible (to me, anyways) maker's mark. It came with us when we emigrated in the fifties.
ReplyDeleteDear Marijke,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful creche! And such a good size. We have a plastic creche from my partners childhood, but plaster figurines, despite their fragility, are so much more beautiful. And luckily you can repair some small damages. You will be able to enjoy them for the years to come.
Huibrecht