Delightful 1998 Video of Marcel Carbonel (1911 - 2003)

Posted on November 15, 2014 | 0 Comments

We were so pleased to discover this video of Marcel Carbonel (1911-2003) filmed in 1998 that we had to share it with you. The video is in French, but we guarantee you will enjoy "visiting" with him - around Marseille and in the Carbonel Santons Atelier - Workshop. The video offers very special footage of the Carbonel creation of a Santon.

Carbonel created his first Santons in 1935. In 1942 he opened a workshop with his wife Clotilde in Marseille. In the beginning they employed one individual who specialized in creating the molds and two painters.

In 1947 he was elected the President of the Union of Santons Craftsmen (a position he held for 21 years) and in 1959, with Jean Heritier, founded the Salon International de Santonniers in Arles. In 1961 he was awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France - The Best Worker of France

and in 1962 the Medal of National Merit. In 1973 the Carbonel Workshops received the award Best Workmen of France. In 1975 his grandson, Phillippe Renoux, then 15,

began an apprenticeship at the studio. Phillippe earned the gold medal at a regional exhibition of the Best Workman of France contest in 1982 and it was Phillippe who in 1993 would cement the continuity of the family Workshop.

The Marcel Carbonel Workshops holds more than 700 different Santons molds - the largest collection of Santons in Provence. In 2000 the Workshop was selected by the French Embassy to the Vatican, Rome to represent France in a contest of the "100 Most Beautiful Cribs in the World." The Carbonel Workshops was awarded the Silver Medal. In 2003 Marcel Carbonel was named Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. In 2007 the Workshops was named an Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (a French Living Heritage Establishment) for the excellence of their traditional skills.

Simply stated the Marcel Carbonel Workshop is a living heritage and they are the Premier creator of Santons.

You may enjoy following our Marcel Carbonel Santons board on Pinterest.

Posted in Carbonel Santons, French Christmas, Provence Christmas

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