This set was an eBay find from many years ago, but it has always been a favorite. We bought it directly from the artist, Pedro Arias, through eBay. We always displayed this prominently on the top of a buffet in our living room in our North Bend, Washington house. The carving is very delicate and detailed. This is one of the best carved sets in our collection.
Pedro Arias hand carves the nativity sets from his workshop in Ibarra, Ecuador. Pedro learned his trade as an apprentice at the age of 18 and has been developing his talent for the last 32 years. Pedro loves woodworking and specializes in nativity sets. He enjoys making each piece original and feels that he is glorifying the birth of Christ with his artwork. This beautiful set is created from Naranjilla wood indiginous to South America. Each nativity set requires nearly one month to hand carve, making this a limited item. Every nativity sest is numbered and marked with Pedro’s signature.
I don’t have the best photos of this set; I need to get it out and set up my photo studio to get better images!
This set from the Andes mountains of Venezuela is a visual feast of fabric designs. The wood forms are subtly carved to give the general shape of the figures, with the painting finishing the people. The Christ child figure is particularly interesting. In most sets the manger sits flat, leaving the baby face up and often difficult to see when looking from the front. The manger here is a rectangle that can stand on its end so that Christ can be displayed face on for optimal viewing.
This is a set that would benefit from being displayed in front of a mirror so that the beautiful and elaborate painting of the back of the figure can also be seen. Each figure has different designs and colors. So beautiful!
This is a good example of how nativity collectors need to keep their eyes open at all time. While visiting San Antonio, Texas in April, we went to the Mercado – Mexican market – and wandered through the shops. On a high shelf at one shop were two retablos that caught our eye. Retablos are not uncommon, but I often feel that they are too full and have a cluttered feel, but this one seemed well designed with all details focusing on the baby Jesus.
A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small work using folk art representations of traditional Catholic church art. Traditionally, a retablo was artwork above an altar in a church (known as an alterpiece). Typically this includes painting, sculpture or a combination of the two, and an elaborate framework enclosing it. Retablos with hinged doors like this one are common, but other, larger retablos have numerous chambers with different scenes, like this one.
Wall hangings are an interesting format for nativities, and artists use many materials. We found two carvings in cedar plaques with are intricately carved, then hand colored. We bought them both from Novica, but they are from different artists.
Artist: Alejandro Ramirez. Dimensions: 15″ x 18″
Expertly carving cedar wood, Alejandro Ramirez depicts the first Christmas in a classic composition. Mary, Joseph and the animals gaze at little Jesus as he sleeps in the manger. An angel hovers nearby and the Christmas star shines above the stable like a beacon.
Artist: Javier RamÃrez Dimensions: 10″ x 13″
Expertly carving cedar wood, Javier RamÃrez depicts the first Christmas in a classic composition. Mary, Joseph and the animals gaze at little Jesus as he sleeps on a soft bad of hay. RamÃrez adds subtle color by hand and applies bronze leaf to the halos. “This is an image filled with love and peace,” he says. Â “We all strive to perpetuate the family’s carving tradition, a legacy we have inherited from our ancestors.” Â
“My name is Javier Claudio Ramirez Montalvo, and I was born on 2 December, 1974. I am a relative of the Montalvo Family, who are Novica featured artists. We all strive to perpetuate the family’s carving tradition, a legacy we have inherited from our ancestors. Â
“In 2003 I decided to go my own way as I wanted to work on my original designs. I have always enjoyed carving! I love the look of wood, its color and natural appearance. My brother taught me how to find the detail in every little corner. He has inspired me to continue improving my work. Â
“I studied at the Don Bosco Art School for five years, and when I graduated they offered me a teaching position. I worked there for four years, until I decided to return to carving. I joined my family when they were commissioned to work on a screen for the Church of the Assumption, in my village. It meant a lot to each one of us. It was a great challenge and it is a fond memory that we now share. Â
“I describe my work as figurative. My ambition to become a great artist is what motivates me, and I would like my work to be remembered. I work with Inca themes as well as religious, which we sometimes forget. Â
“The greatest challenge I have faced is to survive in this art form, and explore other venues such as sculpting or painting.”
Creating nativities is a big industry in Peru. Artists works in clay, wood, fabrics, and all manner of materials. Some of the most intriguing artwork uses gourds. Typically, the outside of the gourd is etched or wood-burned and colored, and that may be the only decoration. More often, a side of the gourd is cut open, and figures are placed inside the hollow gourd.
Gourds are grown everywhere, so gourds are used in artwork from many countries other than Peru. We also have gourds in our collection from Kenya and Ghana.
This is a description from the WorldNativity.com of how some gourds in Peru are prepared: “Gourds are available in a variety of sizes, so artisans usually contract with growers for a certain approximate size in the sowing season, October. After harvesting, the gourds are sun-dried for about six months so they are ready to be worked the following June. A pipe, made from hollow eucalyptus branches, is put in a fire. The artesano then blows air through the hot pipe to scorch the gourd, creating beautiful patinas on the outer surface. Later, the gourd is intricately carved using typical woodworking tools.”
We are always amazed at the variety of materials that artists use to create their creche artwork. This set is made of “crin,” hair from a horse’s mane and tail. This work features Mary holding baby Jesus while riding on a donkey, with Joseph walking beside.
Crin weaving dates back for over 200 years in the rural regions of Chile. It’s traditionally passed down from mother to daughter, some women having practiced the artform for more than 70 years. Every step of the process is done by hand. The hair is hand-washed, bleached, and sometimes dyed before it’s ready to be woven into the final product – nativity figures, flowers, dolls, insects, and small baskets as well as various exquisite home goods. Even the smallest of items takes hours weave.
Origin
Chile
Material
Crin (Hair from a horse’s mane or tail)
Height
4″
Purchase Date
2014
Purchase Location
Sante Fe International Folk Art Festival, New Mexico
It seems I say that every nativity is one of our favorites, but this one is truly one of our top five favorites. Sculpted by Argentine artist Mario Rene Mendoza, the detail and intricate painting of the faces, clothes and customs of Mapuches group makes this nativity stand artistically above most in our collection. I always marvel at the how the patterns and texture of the clothing follows the drape in the fabric. Even down to the level of the teeth of the figures, the realism is complete.
Mapuches are inhabitants of Central and Southern Chile and Southern Argentina. When the Spanish came, they quickly adopted silver metal-working (in addition to the traditional copper-working), horseback riding, wheat sowing and sheep growing. It was from the large and widely-dispersed quantity of Spanish and Chilean silver coins that Mapuches wrought their elaborated silver jewelry. They are still known by their beautiful weaved textiles and silver jewels (as with the box of silver jewels in one Wise Man).
They also have a very strong music tradition. Kultrung is a percussion instrument made of wood and goat leather. Trutruka is a wind instrument present in every religious ceremony. It could measure 2 to 4 meters (6 to 12 feet) and is made of coligue or chusquea cane hollowed out. At the end of the cane there is a bull horn to amplify the sound. Pifullka is another wind instrument made of wood, bone or stones with only one hole for blowing. Â
Artist Mario Rene Mendoza was born in the 1950s in San Salvador de Jujuy, located north of Argentina and 1500 km from the capital, Buenos Aires. At 6 years old, he started designing pre-Columbian pitchers of clay under his brother Oscar’s tutorial. Since 1978, he works in his own workshop molding realistic little sculptures.  His work represents clothing, crafts, habits and nativities of each local ethnic community (Coyas, Onas, Tehuelches, Yamanas, Mapuches) as well as gaucho scenes inspired by images of Argentine Pampa in 1800.  He uses natural clay that he collects himself from the mountains where he lives (Quebrada de Humahuaca).
The Grotesque Nativity from Peru is one of the more intriguing items in our collection. The set has our favorite camels. If a nativity camel ever looked it could spit (as real camels do), these are the one!
“Grotesque” means “odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.” This set seems to meet that definition in several ways. While many nativity sets are polished and refined expressions of our Savior’s birth, this artist chose to leave the clay natural and rough to the eye and touch. The artist created finely detailed figures but left the tool marks from shaping the figures and decorations plain to define the style of the pieces. The people have oversized features, especially feet and hands, that create a fantastical feel to the characters.
We always like nativities where the characters have realistic emotions and body language. Every face here is individual, with expressions of wonder, exertion, and maybe even discomfort. The body positions are not conventionally posed but are in motion. The wise men are riding side-saddle which allows for a good presentation of the kings’ dress and gifts, but perhaps this was the least uncomfortable position after weeks of travel on a cranky camel!
This is a hand-made wooden box painted from by Silvestre, an artisan in the mountains of Peru. The box can be closed and inside have amazing details hand made in ceramic high relief of Joseph, Mary and Jesus child, the animals around them with two people playing musical instruments and flowers.
This Nativity is hand-carved from cedar wood and then hand-painted. The carving was made by Otavalo Indians in a style that represents their traditional clothing and culture. The artisans work in the village of San Antonio de Ibarra, Ecuador. This town is famous throughout Ecuador for its fine wood carvings. The stable measures 9 inches tall to the top of the star.
The carving workshop was started in March 2006 by three sisters: Teran, Martha & Margarita. They started teaching a group of workers who had no experience in woodworking; the workers developed great skill so now they produce many styles of Nativities. The workshop employs up to16 people, depending on the season.
The Garding Family Nativity Collection 