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lyonspuppy · ‎07-24-2021

Is anyone able to help me with this signature on this southwest? art pottery nativity scene?

Thank you

janetpjohn_la · ‎07-25-2021

Gonzales, maybe.

Janet

lyonspuppy · ‎07-25-2021

Thank you 🙂

sonomabarn67 · ‎07-25-2021

Looks more Italian than Southwestern, USA/

kathiec · ‎07-25-2021

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
Looks more Italian than Southwestern, USA/

That's my feeling as well. The clothing is wrong for Southwest as is the finish on the piece.

melda58 · ‎07-25-2021

If the name is Gonzales then maybe Portuguese.

Rita

janetpjohn_la · ‎07-27-2021

It's a pretty big if on the Gonzales, after looking at it enlarged. I'm on empty.

Janet

maxine*j · ‎07-27-2021

Wherever it was made, doesn't it depict Bethelhem at the time of the birth of Jesus, rather than depicting the place where it the piece was made? Or am I just too literal-minded?

=

melda58 · ‎07-27-2021

Yes, Bethlehem but I think OP thought it was made somewhere in the US southwest, not that the southwest was represented in the piece.

Rita

kathiec · ‎07-27-2021

But I can also see a resemblance to clay sculptures of pueblo villages that are popular in the Southwest.

sonomabarn67 · ‎07-28-2021

But NA pueblos are made of adobe which has a smooth surface and this clearly shows sun-baked brick construction with mortar type joins. Here are examples of what pueblo structures look like..

https://www.google.com/search?q=southwest+usa+pueblo+houses+construction&client=firefox-b-1-d&source...

kathiec · ‎07-28-2021

I've been collecting NA art and jewelry for more than 50 years. So I'm quite aware of what pueblo buildings look like. I have no idea if the OP does. My point was that if they don't, I can see how they might think the boxy shape of their piece resembles the very popular pueblo scenes made primarily for the tourist trade. But since the OP hasn't returned, we'll probably never know.

maeday76 · ‎07-28-2021

Yes, the clothing is wrong, unless the artist was trying to replicate "Bethlehem."

The arrangement/construction of the buildings is reminiscent of the adobe construction of the Pueblo Indians. That may be significant or, again, a head fake at imaginary 1st century Judea.

maxine*j · ‎07-28-2021

@melda58 wrote:
Yes, Bethlehem but I think OP thought it was made somewhere in the US southwest, not that the southwest was represented in the piece.

Rita

Oh, okay. I thought it sounded like OP thought it was a "southwest theme" nativity. We've all seen scores of "nativity scenes" adapted to reflect different times and cultures, with the Holy Family, Magi, and Shepherds in every race and ethnicity and in all sorts of costumes and settings, with even the animals changed to different species to suit the theme. I think OP's is just supposed to be Bethehem.

Great photo of Bethelhem, Christmas, 1890, from Wikipedia:

Here's a photo from 1890.