Original Precious Moments Illustrations Head to Auction
The iconic illustrations by artist Sam Butcher that launched Precious Moments characters and imagery that stole the hearts of collectors starting in the late 1970s head to Heritage Auctions in August.
DALLAS — One of the most successful and beloved American artists, Sam Butcher, may not be a household name for some, but his works have outsold those of Norman Rockwell and his indelible creations grace millions of homes across the country and the world. The Precious Moments Collection is his creation, and that certainly is a household name.
For decades now, Precious Moments’ dedicated collectors have been deeply familiar with Butcher’s name and his story. Butcher, who died in May, was the man behind one of the most enduring collectibles empires of the last century, and on Aug. 8 Heritage Auctions will offer the iconic original Butcher illustrations that kicked off an unstoppable tide of Precious Moments characters and imagery — the teardrop-eyed, heart-shaped faces who stole the hearts of countless collectors starting in the late 1970s, and continue to do so today.
The works on offer are five illustrations that led to some of Precious Moments’ earliest figurines and Butcher’s introduction to the wider world. These drawings, dating from 1977 to 1982, have remained with Butcher, his family and his company throughout the decades, and their tableaus are as familiar to Precious Moments collectors as any other artworks in living memory.
“Heritage Auctions is thrilled to honor Sam Butcher’s legacy by offering five original illustrations directly from the Precious Moments Collection,” says Meagen McMillan, Heritage’s Senior Specialist of Illustration Art. “Through the generosity of Sam’s family and Precious Moments, this is the first time such significant and seminal material from the artist has ever been made available to his followers and collectors. Sam's legacy lives on not just in the illustrations and figurines that bear his signature style but, in the lives touched and inspired by his message of faith, love, and sharing.”
“The Michelangelo of Missouri” may not have realized just how much he had a finger on the pulse of America when he sat down to draw Love One Another, the illustration of a young boy and girl sitting side-by-side on a tree stump, hands folded in their laps and a basket of strawberries nearby. This quietly sweet scene was but one of Butcher’s illustrations for greeting cards and Sunday school materials, and these early works caught the eye of Gene Freedman, the founder of Enesco Imports, at a Christian booksellers convention in California: Butcher and his business partner were so inundated with orders that Freedman talked a skeptical Butcher into letting him hire a master sculptor to re-create them as fully detailed, hand-painted porcelain figurines. Butcher was so moved by the pre-production example, which came to life at the hands of Japanese master ceramicist Yasuhei Fujioka, that he wept. A collectibles universe was born.
Love One Another, illustrated by Butcher in 1977 in watercolor and pencil, leads this event, along with four other illustrations dating to the era. Love One Another in fact kicked off the “Original 21” — longtime collectors’ term for the earliest Precious Moments figurines released in 1978. It is joined by the also-iconic Butcher illustrations Love is Kind and Mother Sew Dear, both from 1979; Praise the Lord Anyhow (1977) and Peace on Earth (1982).
In these significant works, the artist’s little characters — joined in their compositions by equally endearing puppies, lambs, lions and the ephemera of innocence and a blessed childhood — we see not only the heartbeat of traditional values and a pure Americana, but also the solid foundation of an evolving collection that is still very much in production and in demand. The initial release of the figurines that are based on Butcher’s illustrations was so successful that in 1981 the Precious Moments Collectors Club was born, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dedicated members.
Like most successful artists, Butcher’s personal trajectory is marked by the highs and lows that shape a person’s character. Lifelong fans have embraced his story with the generosity and warmth of family. The Precious Moments Chapel and campus in Carthage, Mo., where Butcher settled his business and his family after having a vision on a car trip that drew him to the spot, still draws thousands of visitors each year.
At the height of his influence and financial success, Butcher moved out of his grand house and into his garage, where he painted all day and slept at night in an endless loop of creative impulse. He is as famous for his Precious Moments Chapel as he is for his figurines: Inspired by a trip to the Vatican and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, he worked tirelessly to create a new chapel overflowing with Bible-themed Precious Moments characters and scenes via murals and stained glass and launched a Midwestern place of gathering and meditation for his countless fans and collectors.
“Sam Butcher's journey to creating Precious Moments is a testament to his own perseverance and faith,” says McMillan. “The illustrations we offer on August 8 are among his most loved, and throughout his career he remained dedicated to his vision of spreading love, care, and joy through his art.”
Images and further information about Sam Butcher’s work and all lots in Heritage’s August 8 Illustration Art Signature Auction can be found at HA.com/8174.
