Tis the Season to Buy Ornaments!

What with all the decorating possibilities it's no wonder that Christmas is my favorite time of year. It's also a chance to combine figurine collecting with the holiday season! Most of the well known figurine creators do a holiday line. I want to share a few of my favorites with you.

I'll start with my first love: Hummel. My mom had a handful of Hummel figurines and I loved them from an early age. There's something so pure and innocent about the figures. At that age I didn't realize that they harkened back to a simpler time. I just knew I loved those little boys and girls. When I was older and on my own I bought a Hummel figurine to remind me of my own childhood. The collection grew and grew!

I try to limit myself to one Hummel ornament each year. The obvious choice would be the dated one, but that gets old, for me anyway. I have a few different styles of ornaments. Some years we do only ball ornaments and other years everything is all figurine style. I can't believe that I don't remember what we did last year! Oh well, I have my heart set on the figurine ornament. It's called "Good Tidings" and it's a sweet little girl holding a present.


Lladró is another one of my tried and true figurine makers. I'm not always super traditional, but there's a reason Lladró has been around so long! When it comes to Christmas ornaments, they really mix it up a bit. You can get the yearly Christmas bell, which is very classy. Or you can get their yearly Christmas bear. They team up with Steiff each year to offer a little teddy bear ornament. Too cute!

I have two folk-art style ornament makers that I love, too. If I want something more like a "country Christmas" I'll break out the Willow Tree ornaments or my Jim Shore ornaments. With Willow Tree, I swear I could do a whole "angel" themed tree. Susan Lordi's work is just so great. The ornaments are a really great price, too. You will spend less than $20 for an ornament -- compare that to the $150 for a Lladró Christmas bear! Willow Tree ornaments make wonderful gifts, too.

Have you heard of Jim Shore? I love, love, love his Christmas cats. The other ornament designs are wonderful too, but the whimsy of the "Cat Snowman" is irresistible. Part of me wants to put it on the tree every year. Earlier this year I saw the pineapple ornament he's introduced for this Christmas. It's gorgeous and it's going to be my hostess gift this year. At $10 it's a nice thrifty option and I love the symbol of the pineapple.

Spotlight: Willow Tree Figurines

Have you heard of Willow Tree figurines? I love them! Simple, elegant and affordable. Three words I love. Artist Susan Lordi handcrafts the design and then they are recreated for the world to enjoy.

The figures evoke such emotion but without much ornamentation. I think that's the main reason I love them. When you look at a tableau like Cherish, Angel of Mine and New Life.... when you put those three figurines together it's beautiful and the story it tells will warm your heart. First you have a simple figurine: a young woman, the figurine is called "Cherish." Her hands cradle her belly and you see the rounded curves and realize that she's pregnant. Your mind serves up the missing facial expression. You know it already -- the serene joy that is a expectant mother's right. Next, once the baby has been born, illustrated in the figurine "Angel of Mine," you see the woman holding the newborn to her chest. The infant's hand rests on the mother's collarbone. A tender scene of motherly love. The last figurine is "New Life." Here you see the father and the lines of his body as he holds his brand new child are wonderful. You see his amazement as he gazes at this tiny creature. His wife kneels beside him and you know that they are thinking "Look at what we made!" Any new Dad would love to have this reminder of the magical moment when he first held his child.

It's the right time of year to talk about the Willow Tree nativity figurines. For less than $200 you can have a unique and evocative nativity scene. Start with the Family. Joseph with his staff, Mary with baby Jesus in her arms, a shepherd boy with a few sheep and the famous donkey that got Mary & Joseph to Bethlehem. Next, add the Three Wisemen. Each holds his precious gift -- gold, frankincense and myrrh. In particular, their turbans are nicely rendered. There's a second shepherd, with camel and a few more animals that can be added to the scene. In addition there's an ox and goat combo that can be bought and added. The crowning touch? A Willow Tree angel! My favorite is the Angel of Hope. Her lantern will shine light on the whole scene and add just the right touch.

I'm so glad I found out about Willow Tree collectables! I was just wandering in one of our local gift shops one day. You know how it is -- just waiting for inspiration and then I saw these figurines. That was, oh about three years ago and my collection keeps growing!

Figurines and Their History

No one agrees on when figurines first became part of the human psyche. Were they grave goods? Fertility symbols? Religious icons? The right answer is probably "all of the above." What matters to me is not the when but the why. Maybe that's something we can explore together in this blog.

Some of the earliest figurines are often called "Venus figurines". They are small, rounded figures depicting the female form. The figures have pendulous breasts and rounded bellies. Many examples, mostly from Europe, are carved from limestone. There are clay versions and they are among the earliest examples of fired clay.
The Venus figurines are fascinating to me. I remember reading about them as a child and wondering at their significance.

Those very early figurines, from a pre-agricultural world, are crude in comparison to later Minoan and Greek figures. We have examples of Minoan Iron Age terracotta figurines with excellent facial detail. To my mind the earliest ancestors of our modern figurines are the Tanagra figurines of fourth century (BCE) Greece. They are named for the Boeotian town of Tanagra. The figurines were coated with a liquid before firing and then painted afterwards. Probably the best known example is the "Dame en Bleu" ("Lady in Blue") at the Louvre.

Tanagra figures depict real people in everyday costume, wearing hats or carrying fans. The examples found are mostly women, but there are figurines of men and children -- boys actually. Typically they are about 4 to 8 inches high. What inspired someone or some group, most likely, to create these little gems? Scholars think they probably had religious or ceremonial significance. Maybe they were used in rituals. Many have been found at grave sites. Some may have been worn as jewelry or intended to amuse children.

Porcelain became a common material for figurines. In China, where the art of creating porcelain originated, the artists and craftsmen made figurines, but what they are know for is the wares -- the plates and vases and cups. The delicate beauty of those early ceramics is unparalleled. And when Europeans saw the wonders of porcelain, they were driven to replicate the process. The first European porcelain figurines, produced in a process mastered in Germany, were known as Meissen ware after the city where it began.

Modern figurines come in many styles. Some of the best known makers include: Hummel, Lenox, Precious Moments, Royal Doulton and Lladró.