Nativity Scene (creche)

Artist Ada Suina born 1930 Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico

Date1978

Mediumceramic, wood, cornhusk

Dimensionsstanding figure, each: 5 1/2 × 2 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (14 × 5.7 × 6.4 cm)
kneeling figure, each: 4 3/4 × 2 3/8 × 4 1/2 in. (12.1 × 6 × 11.4 cm)
animal, each: 3 × 2 × 4 1/2 in. (7.6 × 5.1 × 11.4 cm)
baby Jesus: 2 1/2 × 2 1/8 × 1 1/8 in. (6.4 × 5.4 × 2.9 cm)
baby basket: 7/8 × 3 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (2.2 × 8.3 × 6.4 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, museum purchase, National Endowment for the Arts Purchase Grant

Object numberVPC1979.86.1.A-K

DescriptionA thirteen-piece polychrome ceramic Nativity set, depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. The figures are painted black and orange on white clay. The figures include Baby Jesus in a manger, a kneeling Virgin Mary and Joseph, a praying angel, three Biblical Magi holding gifts, and a kneeling shepard holding a wooden staff. The Magi's gifts are three ears of corn, a bowl full of bread, and two rabbits. The figures are joined by a variety of animals: two sheep, a donkey, and an ox.

On View

Not on view

Terms