Celestial Bodies - Terracotta Cross

This unique, handmade terracotta cross is hand painted in Lapis lazuli blue and decorated with images of celestial bodies: the sun, moon, stars and streaking comets. Truly a heavenly sight. It is accented with a white, satin ribbon for hanging. Check it out at my ecrater store.

Old Santa Cruz Church & The Virgen del Pilar

The church of Santa Cruz was started to be built in 1608 for the community of Chinese converts who were living on the outskirts of Manila. On August 8th, 1625, the church was handed to the Jesuits who made it their professed house and provincial residence. The building wasn't fully completed until a century later in 1715.

The old church building prior to the Second World War featured Classical-Revival traits, a style popular in late 18th and 19th century Philippines. The facade bore a series of ionic columns and a dominant pediment. Inside, the church housed a somewhat typical Neo-classical retables and pulpit.

Featured in the center niche of theRetablo Mayor was the much venerated, ancient statue of Nuestra Senora del Pilar. The wooden icon of the Virgin of the Pillar was supposedly brought to the Philippines from Spain in 1643.

However, the statue's ivory heads and its cladding of precious metal point to a more local provenance. Heavy-lidded eyes and the pairing of ivory with beaten and worked silver are hallmark traits of colonial Philippine Santo art. The miraculous Virgen del Pilar is a survivor of Liberation for Manila as the war destroyed much of the church and its surroundings. Today, the Virgin can be seen enshrined in the side retable of the present Santa Cruz Church.

Retro Nativity

Here's a colorful Nativity set from the 50's.

"Vintage Plastic "Unbreakable" 17 piece Nativity set from the 50's. One figure has its original price tag of 10c. Made in the U.S. Figures measures approximately 4 inches high."

1969 Sears Christmas, Nativities

1969 Sears Christmas, Nativities
Originally uploaded by mcudeque

Nice Catalog photos. It's great to see how they used to market Nativity sets.

The Dormition of Mary

Vintage Mod Nativity Set

Vintage Made in Italy plastic Nativity set.
I like this set. It is rendered in a stylized manner typical of mid-century aesthetics which I so dig. Just look at the stable with its asymmetrical steep roof. It houses the Holy Family in style. The look is so indicative of the era. Gotta love the playfulness of mod sensibilities.

Santa Ana

Here is a sculpture of Santa Ana and the young Virgen.
I started to create the body in 2008 but did not get to paint and totally complete it until two years later.
I know, I know it takes me a long time to finish anything.