Cherished Customs ® Collection

The Blessing - Mexico - 1990

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

Our little Nina is all dressed up and ready for her village's Fiesta de San Ramon. All the animals have been scrubbed and draped with flowers in readiness for a parade to the church for The Blessing by the Priest. Nina's burro, however seems to have different ideas of how to spend the morning. The Blessing is 14" tall, all-porcelain. 

Midsommar - Sweden - 1990

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

After the long months of winter with its few short hours of daylight, when summer comes to Sweden, spirits soar, and the people celebrate. Midsommar is the celebration of the summer solstice. Our little Swedish Flicka is ready for folkdancing around the Majstang. Her wreath, carefully woven of seven different wildflowers, insures that she will dream of her true love. Midsommer is 14" tall and all-porcelain.

Girl’s Day - Japan - 1990

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

A very special day for our little Eiko is Girl's Day. Girl's Day is celebrated at home with the girls of the family setting up a display of their cherished dolls and then playing quietly, perhaps by making an origami fan like the one Eiko carries. She is dressed in a proper summer kimono and wears black enameled wooden geta on her feet. Eiko is 14" tall and all-porcelain.

High Tea - England - 1990

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

Can there be a country that loves a cup of tea more than jolly old England? I have chosen to use a "downstairs" approach to this custom in this wide-eyed parlor maid, who's ready to serve High Tea. Crisply dressed in black and white, she carries a shiny copper tea kettle. High Tea is 14" tall and all-porcelain.

Ndeko - Zaire - 1991

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

Ndeko (the "N" is almost silent) is the Lingala word for sister. In Zaire, because the mother's responsibility is to carry huge loads of water, wood or even food, the children carry their younger siblings on their back. Our version of this Zairian custom has Ndeko proudly carrying her little sister, Kimia (meaning "peace" in Lingala). Kimia has a porcelain head with a cloth body, while Ndeko has a jointed, all-porcelain body. Both sisters have deep brown eyes, lambswool wigs and gold-colored earrings. Ndeko's dress is a colorful batik fabric in the same vibrant tones as the color splashed cloth cradling Kimia. Ndeko is approximately 14" tall, Kimia approximately 8" tall.

Frolic - Amish - 1991

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

Frolic is named for the Amish traditional working party. A frolic is a wonderful custom, a gathering where friends get together to enjoy the fellowship of work, food and friendship. The work is made lighter by many enthusiastic hands. I have been so taken by the quiet serenity of each of the Amish people that I've encountered on my travels. I tried to reflect that respect in creating little Hannah. I used the traditional plain garb and braids of the Amish children. Only the sprinkling of freckles and the carrot-colored tendrils escaping from her braids reminds us of Hannah's age.

Pascha - Ukraine - 1992

Edition of 750

Retail Price $495

Pascha is the Russian name for Easter. Though Easter customs vary the world over, no symbol is as universal as the egg, and perhaps, nowhere has the dyed Easter egg evolved to such an art form as in the Ukraine. Pysanky, or the art of the Ukrainian dyed egg, is the cherished custom of our Ukrainian Pascha.

Pascha is authentically dressed in her national costume. This lovely costume was designed for us by a skilled needlewoman in a small Ukrainian village. The traditional blouse, which extends to below the split skirt, is heavily hand-embroidered with the tiniest cross-stitches you will ever see. The predominantly red skirt fabric has been custom woven for Pascha. She wears red suede leather Ukrainian boots and her beloved coral necklace. Hand-woven bands are threaded around her braid.

If that were not enough handwork, Pascha gently carries her exquisitely painted Pysanky egg. Entirely handpainted with over 285 tiny brushstrokes, the egg is a masterpiece in itself. Each stroke, color and symbol on the egg has a special significance. The master painters at Lawtons have already been working for several months on the eggs and will continue working throughout this year. Although each egg tells the same story, because they are individually painted, each is a work of art in itself. Pascha is approximately fourteen inches tall.

Carnival - Brazil - 1992

Edition of 750

Retail Price $425

Can there be a more colorful custom anywhere in the world than Carnival in Rio de Janeiro? The air sizzles with the excitement. Drums pulse with the beat of the Samba. Tourists and towns people flood the sidewalks and dancers jam the streets. All is set for the last wild fling before Ash Wednesday begins the somber Lenten season.

Little Sarita is participating in Carnival for the first time. She wears a costume made from yard upon yard of tissue lame in sizzling colors of green, blue, pink, purple, copper and red. Her headpiece is quilted from matching fabric with an applique of leaves and a cluster of coppery grapes. Little gold strappy sandals complete her ensemble. She has black curls and brown eyes. Carnival is approximately fourteen inches tall.

Cradleboard - Navajo - 1992

Edition of 750

Retail Price $425

One of the most intriguing customs among the American Indian peoples is the use of the cradleboard. At first consideration, it seems to be almost repressive to completely swaddle a baby and then strap him to a board, but studies have shown that Indian babies have proven to be placid, secure and happy. Could it be that the security of the cradleboard mimics the security of the womb? Or, possibly because the cradleboard makes the baby portable, happiness comes because the papoose is with mother or grandmother every minute of the day.

Our authentic cradleboard was made for us by Navajo craftsmen on the reservation near Gallup, N.M. Made of beautifully rubbed cedar wood and strung with leather thongs, it is crafted exactly as cradleboards have been made for generations. The rug cushioning the boards is being hand-woven for us on traditional looms by four Navajo weavers. No two weavings will be alike; the weavers will design each weaving as they go. The baby's head and feet are cushioned by sheepskin. The little papoose has brown hair and brown eyes. He is approximately twelve inches long.

Nalauqataq - Eskimo - 1993

Edition of 500

Retail Price $395

"It is proof of high culture to say the greatest matters in a simple way."-Emerson 1860.

Nalauqataq is the Spring Whale Festival among the Eskimo of Pelly Bay. It is a time of celebration; a time of gratitude to the spirit of the whale--nurturer of Eskimo life. Nalauqataq holds his ceremonial drum, which traditionally would have been made of walrus liver membrane. He wears his clothing skin-side-out, to keep the warmth of the fur next to his body. His parka and mukluks are trimmed with hand-woven braid. Nalauqataq is all porcelain, 14" tall.

Topeng Klana - Java - 1993

Edition of 250

Retail Price $495

"What masques/What dances shall we have?" -Shakespeare from a Midsummer Night's Dream

The Javanese court dances flow with an undulating liquidity, weaving the timeless tales of the Ramayana; tales of adventure, love, treachery and triumph. The dance, Topeng Klana, tells of a beautiful and wise queen who was to be forced to marry an evil king, represented by the mask. The movements depict the fight between the evil king, Minakjingga and Darmawulan, the queen's savior. The heavily embellished costume is an authentic miniature of the Topeng Klana costume, painstakingly handmade for us by the Javanese people. It is complete down to the tiny engraved metal dagger and sheath, the hand-carved wooden mask and the authentic hand-dyed batik.

Kwanzaa - Africa - 1994

Edition of 500

Retail Price $425

Kwanzaa is a colorful African- American holiday celebrated between December 26th and January 1st. On each day, a new candle is lit on the wooden kinara as the family offers thanks for life's goodness, the strengthening of community and the importance of family ties. Kwanzaa is 14" tall, all-porcelain.

Piping The Haggis - Scotland - 1995

Edition of 350

Retail Price $495

Robert Burns made the favorite Scottish sausage, Haggis, immortal in his "Address to a Haggis". His birthday is celebrated yearly, as the bagpipes play and the haggis is brought steaming to the table. Piping the Haggis is all-porcelain, 14" tall.

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