Provence-Beyond (Beyond the French Riviera) ®
Also: [ Santons | Santons-A | Santons-B | Santons-C ]
Related: [ Pottery ]
Below: [ Santons | Crèches | Obtaining ]
Photos
Page P1: Two views of the dentist to see how the patient kills the pain;
loading the hay cart (27 k)
Page P2: The Christmas family and a knife sharpener (24 k)
More thumbnails (20 k) of:
- page P3: ironing woman and a group with a lavender cutter (32 k);
- page P4: blacksmith, woodcutters, and others (33 k)
Even more thumbnails (26 k) of:
- page P5: jeweler at work, cello player, card players (37 k)
- page P6: fisherman, shepherd, and the hay man (39 k)
- page P7; landscape painter, grain man and others, and knitting woman (44 k)
All the thumbnails together (58 k)
Santons
Santons are clay figurines that depict the colorful people, traditional trades, activities and costumes of Provence. Some classical examples are the shepherd with his flock, the hunter, dairy maid, mayor, nurse, farmers and various peasants and trade people. Our photos include the shepherd and his dog, a blacksmith, fishermen, lavender seller, woodcutters, musicians, the jeweler at his bench and a group of card players.
The name santon comes from the Provençal word "santoùn" for little saint. Another, possibly parallel, derivation is from the Italina "santoni", which was a shortened version of santibelli, for beautiful saints.
Santons are made from the fine clay (argile) found in the region of Marseilles and Aubagne. Two-piece plaster molds made from original carvings are filled with the clay for molding. The piece is removed from the mold for painting before beind dried and baked. The hand painting is done with great care, using bright colors and with encredible care for detail.
Crèches
Santons made for the Christmas manger scenes (crèches) include the three wise kings who join the shepherds to visit Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. In addition to the Christmas scene, crèches often depict typical Provencal villages. The largest crèches in the world (an official Guiness record) is an 1136 square-meter miniature of a Provencal village, located in the town of Grignan in the Drôme (map C1).
The original Crèches in Provence date back to the 17th century, when the few bas-reliefs evolved into carved wooden figures and eventually including marionnettes, clockwork characters and even costumed children in living crèches.
In 1789 the churches were closed, depriving the population of crèches to observe and depriving crèche makers of their market. Jean-Louis Lagnel (1764-1822) of Marseilles, who made molded figurines for the church crèches, decided to make the santons for the general population, at a price they could afford.
Santons for the public became an instant success, and an industry (and tradition) was born. A santon fair was started in Marseille, and then another at Aubagne (10 km to the east), and before long there were santon fairs at villages throughout Provence. Today santon fairs and exhibitions are a common regional event during November and December. The original Marseille santon fair is still in existance, from the end of November to Twelfth Night (Epiphany).
Obtaining
Santon making is today one of the cottage industry trades practiced by artisans in some of the smaller villages in the Beyond region. You can find santons in village shops and ateliers, and often in the markets.
