American Design 
8 February 2024
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 1 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 2 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 3 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 4 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 5 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 6 of 6
American Design 
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 1 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 2 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 3 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 4 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 5 of 6
After Marilyn Neuhart, Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen - Image 6 of 6
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After Marilyn Neuhart

Nativity Crèche dolls, collection of sixteen

c. 1966
cotton, wool, linen, silk largest: 9¾ h × 5¾ w × 2 d in (25 × 15 × 5 cm) smallest: 4 h × 3 w × 1 d in (10 × 8 × 3 cm)
estimate: $4,000–5,000
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In 1966, Womens Day magazine published patterns designed by Marilyn Neuhart to make your own nativity creche figures. This complete set of sixteen figures is includes baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, three kings, five angels, a shepherd, sheep, lion, ox, and donkey.
provenance: Private Collection | Thence by descent

This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.

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I sew because I have to—it is just that simple. After a long day hunched over my computer dealing with the vagaries of English spelling, clumsy syntax and wayward grammar, not to mention computer crashes and arbitrary and demanding clients, I look forward to time spent with my needle and thread, the tactile delight of cloth in my hands and the pleasure of working with color and form—nothing is more life-sustaining and yes, it has to be said, more therapeutic.

Marilyn Neuhart

Marilyn Neuhart and her husband John were well-known and respected graphic designers for over fifty-five years and both worked at the Eames Office from 1957 to 1961 and freelanced for another thirty years. Neuhart began making her dolls the same year she started working for Eames and would give them as gifts to friends and family. In 1959, upon seeing a doll made for Ray Eames, Alexander Girard asked Neuhart to create them in quantity to sell at Herman Miller's Textiles & Objects shop, which opened in New York in 1961. In total, Neuhart made about 2,000 of the dolls within a few years, all while working at Eames and teaching at UCLA.  The Neuharts would then go on to create some of the most comprehensive and thoughtful presentations of the history of Eames Office.

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