Sam Butcher, the creator of Precious Moments, has died aged 85. Derided by critics as kitsch, the pastel-colored children figurines have amassed a following of hundreds of thousands who now mourn his passing.
Born in 1939, Butcher was always drawn to art, despite coming from a mechanically-inclined family. Encouraged by his mother and a teacher, he enrolled in art school until he had to quit to support his wife. He first drew his angelic, teardrop-eyed children for friends and family. Butcher worked odd jobs until he was hired by the Child Evangelism Fellowship, where he eventually worked in the art department.
Butcher then started a greeting card company with his partner, Billy Biel. Originally named Jonathan and David, the business was later renamed Precious Moments. "I came up with 'Precious,' and he came up with 'Moments,'" Butcher said in 1995. "People would say, 'Oh, aren't those precious.' They were moments in people's lives we sort of set aside."
The business came to the attention of Eugene Freedman, CEO of the giftware company, Enesco, who offered to convert Butcher's drawing into ceramic.. Butcher was initially wary, but when the first one was produced, he "got on his knees, took [the figurine] in his arms, and cried."
Launched in 1978, the Precious Moments figurines soon gained countless followers, many collecting them to mark important events such as births, graduations, and weddings. Deemed "the Beanie babies of porcelain" by the Wall Street Journal, Butcher's figurines have become an integral part of Americana.
Butcher's work was driven by his faith, and his art found its greatest expression in the Precious Moments Chapel he opened in Carthage, Missouri in 1989. The edifice features 84 murals and 30 stained glass windows all depicting figures in his Precious Moments style.
His death is mourned the world over, including in New Washington, Aklan in the Philippines, where he built Sampaguita Gardens resort, which operated from 2003 to 2019.
Precious Moments said on Facebook: "Although the sorrow is great, it is our prayer that the appreciation and celebration of [Butcher's] legacy be even greater - the legacy of his glory-filled life, the countless blessings he bestowed upon the millions of lives he touched, and the incredible fulfillment of his life's mission: to share God's gift of love with the world."
