Santons
 Santons Dressed
Clay Santons
Creche Sets
The "Santon" originated
in Provence, in the South of France, at the end of the 18th century.
The word Santon is the French equivalent of the Provençal
diminutive "Santoun", which mean "little saint".
In 1793 the churches were closed, by government decree. Before then,
Life-size crËches, or nativity scenes, were created at Christmas
Time in Christian churches. The principal figures in these crèches
were Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Three Kings, and other figures.
This custom dated from the time of St. Francois of Assises who had
created the first living crèche for the Christmas of 1223,
at Grecchio, in the Abbruzes of Italy.
People of Provence, saddened by
their closed churches, resolved to make their own crèches
at home. A touching, original note was added when they decided to
include statues of themselves in their crèches Thus Jesus
was represented as being born in Provence among its people. Each
individual statue bore its gift to the Child, and was clothed in
the costume of the time. The statues were made of soft clay, the
soil of Provence, easy to work with. The soft clay was forced by
hand into the parts of the mold which were brought together like
the two half-shells of a nut. The santon was taken out, trimmed
and baked. On must not forget the the Greeks settled in Provence
five centuries before Jesus Christ and brought to the natives of
Mediterranean coast their skills of pottery making in particular,
as well as their many techniques of art in general.
|
