Santons

for those of you who have never heard of them may i tell you about the santons



'Santon' is an old Provence language word meaning 'little saint' and from the middle ages onwards were little figurines made from breadcrumbs,clay or crushed glass and formed the 'creches' in churches; the little Nativity scenes. In 1822 as a result of church persecution the making of them was banned, but the art just went underground and through the ages the range of figures has been expanded to include figures from 18/19/and early 20th century to represent all the trades of provence. They are made in sizes of 4,7,9 14 27 cms and are fine for any european garden railway as the dress of the country folk has changed little over the ages. they are made now of solid terracotta (like flowerpots) so are great for outdoors. the price of a 7 cm figure is about 9 euros BUT if you are prepared to paint them yourself they are between 2 and 4 euros each (santons brut on French ebay) i've ordered 10 of them today at 2.5 euros each with a post charge of 5 euros (of course if you want something different and a bit special then Clive is still your man!)

Mikey

Thanks Mikey, I never knew these existed. Neither did my wife.

I might buy a few for some background figures.

Jardiland (at Angouleme anyway) stock the Escoffier santons. As I understand it the makers of these santons are entitled to put their name after the word 'santon' and they are known as 'santonniers' there is a big exposition in the Provence every year where thousands are on display. Although they all do the same characters it pays to look at a few different makers as the details may be finer. they are ideal for background figures though.

Mikey

It' typical of Provence and it's a christmas tradition as well. They are use to decorate a tyipcal provence village and the barn where jesus is born.

There's people making villages with those, with all the traditional aspect you could find in a village in Provence. All kind of job are in show from the shoe maker to the bakery, ....

They exist in a lot of scale.

Well after several months of searching for the best prices I finally bought these four. They are 7cms high and very well painted. Made of terra cotta they can be left outside during the summer months. #these were 2 euros unpainted and 2.49 euros (painted) each. good price. not for modern image perhaps but country folks dress has not changed much!



Mikey