Collectibles

Jim Shore's parents were artistic and his grandmother was a master quilter.His love of Americana and folk art plus his quilt collection inspired his creative juices. He began Designs Americana to produce and maraket his sculptures. When it got too large he joined with Enesco in 202 and markets his products under the Heartwood Creek label. 

Our first Jim Shore nativity.

Emmy got this ornament from the McBride Gallery where whe works part time when she is home. It is a signed and numbered piece. The authentification is below.

Founded in 1952 by Bob and Jan Simpich, Simpich Character Dolls Ltd. created iconic Americana-style figurine dolls including carolers, angels, Santas and even storybook figures like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. The couple made their first dolls from found materials because they couldn’t afford store-bought gifts. Jan and Bob retired in 2006, closing down the business in 2007. Jan Simpich died in 2014. You can still buy these dolls on ebay.

Snow Angels are made by Dept 56 and are similar to Snow Babies. 

Fontanini nativity basic set. Many people add many other pieces  to make an entire Biblical scene.

 Emmanuele Fontanini, a trained Italian artisan, opened the doors to his first shop back in 1908 in Tuscany. It began as a family business and remains a fourth generation family business. In the beginning the figurines were made of papier mache. They changed to plastic figurines with its  invention plastic  in the 1950's. Now they are made of an unbreakable high polymer resin. They are hand painted by individual artisans in their homes. Each artisan only paints one part of a figurine and then it is passed on to another artisan. They became readily available in the US in 1973. Each year some pieces are retired and new ones introduced.

Personally, I find the basic figures pretty drab when compared to other nativities. The beauty of Fontanini lies is the accessories including figures and buildings. There are limited editions of these accessories- some are retired and others introduced each year.

On September 11, 2016 First Baptist Church of Edgewater merged with Riva Trace Baptist Church. Some years ago a large set of Fontinini pieces was given to First Baptist, but there was not a good place to display them. When the churches merged the set was displayed in Riva''s foyer. The following pictures are of that display. (Our personal set only consists of the basic set-we do not have room for any other Fontinini pieces.)

Precious Moments

Three piece porcelain Avon set new for 2013. We bought it at the Farmer's Market (aka Amish Market) in Charlotte Hall,  MD  We display it with other porcelain pieces on one of our over the door shelves.