Welcome to my Nativity page! I enjoy Nativity scenes very much. This page is where I've decided to document my collection.
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nativity: a representation, such as a painting, of Jesus just after birth. crèche: a representation of the Nativity, usually with statues or figurines. |
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A nearly life-sized Nativity c. 1985The Nativity I recall from my childhood is not actually a part of my own collection today. It still belongs to my mother, and I believe she still displays it every year. I do remember helping her make it. Buying the paint was especially fun. Joseph is "life-sized" in that my little brother laid down on the plywood, and my mother traced around him.Ornament Nativity 1991My college roommate, Kate, gave me three brass ornaments depicting the journey to Bethlehem, the star and the manger scene, just before I left school to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Various Nativities of Guarenas, Venezuela 1992I lived in Guarenas, Venezuela for six months from October 1992 until April 1993. During the Christmas season, I was enchanted by the Nativity displays that people had in their homes, and I took pictures of some of them.
Ceramic Nativity from Venezuela 1992
DeAnne's Nativity c. 1996 My mother-in-law makes and sells painted, wooden handicrafts. My father-in-law cuts the wood for her, and she paints them. This is one of the items she made.
Tablecloth nativityMy husband bought me a beautiful lace table cloth with a depiction of the nativity. I had it for a couple of years before I had a table to display it on.
Snow globe nativityMy sister-in-law sent me a large snow globe Nativity as a Christmas gift. It features a manger scene and has a music box in it that plays "Away in a manger."
DeAnne's nativityMy mother-in-law painted a Nativity for my husband. It's a project she started several years ago. My husband had been pestering her every year, asking her when she would get it done. Now he has it, and he enjoys displaying it very much. The figure of Joseph stands at least eight inches high. The set includes an donkey and a cow and shepherds and sheep, but no magi. My mother-in-law refused to include them because the Biblical account does not include them at the stable.
Children's Nativity 2004 In 2004, I was in the market for a Nativity scene that would be safe for a toddler. I found a wonderful toy made by Fisher-Price, but it was so popular that Amazon.com was sold out by December 5. I saw several on eBay, but I decided I would wait until next year rather than pay more than retail, so I went hunting. It was an enjoyable hunt. I saw a lot of beautiful Nativity scenes. It convinced me that I will probably continue to enjoy collecting these for many years to come. I only saw a few that seemed appropriate for children. Most of them were made of wood and too expensive for my budget, a few others were made of fabric and did not have enough pieces for my satisfaction. I finally purchased a very cute, twelve-piece set from Catholic Supply for about $30.00. I snatched up a couple of extra sets and gave them to my nieces as gifts.
Playmobile® Nativity 2005In 2005, I was on the look out for another Nativity set. In August I spotted one by Playmobile® in my local Target® store. I knew from my past experience that I had better snatch it up quick or would miss the opportunity, so I bought all three. I plan to give the others as gifts. Playmobile used to offer the Nativity in two sets: a manger scene and the three magi. The manger scene included the holy family, a fire with a cook pot, an angel, a shepherd with sheep and a goat and a cat to catch mice in the stable. The three magi came with a single camel. The set that I bought in Target was a manger scene, but it also included the three magi and their camel. It did not include the fire, cook pot, goats or cat, so I decided to go to Playmobil.com, and augment my set with more camels, donkeys, goats and sheep. I also got some more cows, but they don't look right. I didn't get any cats, but I think I should have. I also might get a stable that I noticed in another set. The stable that come with this set is made of paper. I wish I could get more shepherds and angels. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2: 13-14)
Fisher-Price Nativity 2005 I started looking for this Nativity again on 09/01/05. When I didn't see it and didn't see it, I considered buying one on eBay. They were going for about $50.00. I'm sure glad I didn't do that. On about the 15th of September, Fisher-Price finally listed their Little People Christmas Story on their catalog page, and it was much improved. The fence pieces now had desert palms and there was an add-on set with shepherds! The biggest complaint I heard about the set last year was that it didn't have any shepherds. if you are familiar with these sets and you study the above photo very carefully you may notice that one of my donkeys is missing. Actually he's hiding behind one of the sheep. You can just see his ears poking up. My set also has one extra sheep, an extra camel and an extra Joseph. These pieces were purchased before I knew about the extra set of shepherds. Can a Nativity have too many pieces? Maybe, but I still hope to add another camel to this set, and at least one more angel. Technically, this was a birthday gift for my daughter, but we enjoy playing with it together. Question: is it culturally accurate to portray a dog with Hebrew shepherds? I seem to remember reading something about a Semitic aversion for dogs, but I can't be sure. If you know the answer, send me an email.
Lego nativity (to be determined)In all this searching for toy Nativity sets, it seemed odd to me that Lego did not offer one, but I did find other people using Legos to tell the Christmas story. Brendan Powell Smith creates dioramas constructed entirely out of LEGO bricks and then photographs them to illustrate Bible stories, including the nativity. (See also The Brick Testament) Eric Harshbarger is an artist who creates sculptures and mosaics from LEGO bricks. In 2003, he was commissioned to create a Nativity mosaic for a Christian supply store. He turned me on to the Brick Link where a person can buy all sort of Lego bricks in bulk. Dr. Vegetable, inspired by Brendan Powell Smith, created a scene for his group's entry in the local Festival of Trees. My favorite and most inspiring discovery were a set of drawings by Leo Dorst of the University of Amsterdam. I hope to collect all the bricks necessary to build the set he illustrates. So far it is turning out to be quite difficult. [Austin's Nativity]
Little Drummer Boy 2006 In 2006, my nephew sent this adorable play set to my 20-month-old son. The little drummer boy is not often a part of nativity sets, and there is nothing of his story in the Holy Bible, but I think this was an ingenious idea on the part of Fisher-Price. The Little Drummer Boy is one of my very most favorite Christmas songs. (read more) |
