Sacred statuary,offered for the faithful.
A private collection of Madonnas, Sacred Hearts, saints, crucifixes and reliquaries — each one hand-restored in Rita’s atelier and ready to preside over a home altar, family shrine, or parish niche.
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- Pieces available now
- NH
- Pickup at the atelier
- By hand
- Restored, offered, unhurried
“In order for art to be a prayer,
it must be of good quality.”
— Rita M. Shea
Pieces currently on offer.
A rotating selection from Rita’s atelier. Each piece is one-of-one — restored, signed off, and photographed before it leaves the bench.
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Mount Carmel with the Infant
Our Lady of Grace
Sacred Heart of Jesus — Rose Mantle
Sacred Heart of Jesus — Classical Palette
The Infant Jesus of Prague
A quiet,
personal purchase.
These are not catalog items with a shopping cart. Each piece is acquired the old way — by letter, with care. Rita reads every inquiry herself and replies personally.
Local pickup at Rita’s atelier in New Hampshire, by appointment. For buyers outside the region, you arrange a white-glove shipper of your choice — we’ve had good experiences with Plycon, Ship Smart, and Craters & Freighters. Rita hands the piece off at the atelier on your scheduled day.
Call Rita(603) 943-5952Consultas en español bienvenidas.
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Choose your piece
Browse the collection. Each listing shows the devotion, era, condition, and — where Rita has priced it — the tag.
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Write to the atelier
Send a short note about the piece. Rita reads every inquiry herself; a family member helps coordinate atelier visit days so she is never receiving strangers alone.
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Pickup or your shipper
Local buyers in New England drive to the atelier. Buyers outside the region arrange a white-glove carrier of their choice — we’ve had good experiences with Plycon, Ship Smart, and Craters & Freighters.
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Atelier handoff
On your scheduled day, you (or the carrier you hired) meet Rita at her New Hampshire atelier. Payment is settled before pickup. Rita never packs, never ships — the piece simply passes from her hands to yours.
For the homes where
the altar still matters.
Rita’s collection serves the devotions carried across generations — in Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Filipino, and Latin American Catholic households alike. Every piece that leaves the atelier is finished the way a grandmother would recognize.
Our Lady of Fátima, Lourdes, Mount Carmel, Guadalupe and the Miraculous Medal — the Madonnas most asked for in Rita’s studio.
The devotion of St. Margaret Mary — the pierced, burning Heart — restored in crimson mantles and classical rose palettes.
The northern-Spanish Passion devotion: the suffering Christ whose gaze moves. A rare American example rests in the atelier.
The crowned Child-King, orb in hand. A household favorite, often given for a baptism, a new home, or a place of healing.
The Peruvian lay-brother and patron of those who sweep, cook, and serve — a saint beloved in homes across the Americas.
Monstrances, pierced-brass candle sleeves, sanctuary pieces — the smaller sacred things that quietly finish an altar.
Rita M. Shea.
Master restorer of sacred statuary — eighty-seven years of age, still at the bench every morning.
She refuses to hurry a piece. She refuses to spray. She refuses anything less than the finish a cathedral would accept. “If the statue is going to be prayed to,” she says, “the people praying deserve the dignity of something beautiful.”
Have a piece of your own?
Rita still takes select work.
For parishes, religious communities, and families with a statue that has been in the household for generations — Rita continues to accept a limited number of restoration commissions each year. Polychromy, gilding, missing hands and crowns, crucifix corpuses, reliquary repair.
Write with a few photographs and the piece’s story. Rita replies personally with an honest assessment — often within two working days.
- Assessment
Examined for structural integrity, paint history, and age.
- Conservation
Fractures stabilized, missing elements rebuilt — reversibly.
- Polychromy
Flesh-tones and mantles in layered hand-mixed glazes.
- Gilding
22K gold leaf on crowns, halos, and embroidered hems.
Write to the
atelier.
Ask about a piece in the collection or begin a restoration. Rita reads every letter herself and replies within two working days.
Or call the atelier(603) 943-5952“A broken Virgin is not discarded. She is returned.”
Consultas en español bienvenidas.