The Gypsy – the Ninth (9th) Essential Santon for a Provençal Creche
The Gypsy - La Bohemienne (French) - Lou Boumian (Provençaux) – is number 9 on the list of the top 20 Essential Santons for a Provençal Creche. They are available in various versions in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons sizes offered by My Growing Traditions.
Their inclusion in the Santons' creche first occurred in 1820 and originates with early productions of the nativity story, in the Creche-Parlante and in Antoine Maurel’s Pastorale.
The bohemians include those known as Gypsies, the Tzians, and the Gitans. As a group they have long lived in Provence. They have their own patron Saint - Saint Sara. Every year on May 24 there is a pilgrimmage in the Camargue in her honor. The gypsies are of swarthy complexion and live a nomadic life travelling in caravans throughout Provence in colorful, horse-drawn carts doing whatever they can to eke out a living.
In August 1888, Vincent Van Gogh, who spent some time in Provence, especially Arles, created this wonderful oil painting: The Caravans - Gypsy Camp Near Arles
Dressed in clothing of the colors of the rainbow, with a scarf around their neck, and wearing a traditional pleated skirt, Gypsy women are known for playing their tambourines, singing, dancing, and telling fortunes. They ask for whatever contribution the audiences may wish to give. In Sizes #1 (Cricket), #2 (Elite) and #3 (Grande) the gypsy woman carries a tambourine and her baby. In Size Puce (Flea) she has a monkey by her side.
The men entertain as well with their animals at village festivals, here with their bears - available in all four sizes
and here with a guitar - available in Size #2 and Size #1 -
but the men also provide a variety of itinerant services: fixing farm equipment, repairing wheels, clipping dogs, reseating chairs, and repairing pots and pans.
The gypsies are watched closely, and in fact are often feared, by the villagers as they have a reputation for thievery to include whatever they may find useful, including chickens, and even children. The Gypsy and the Highwayman are often interchanged in being blamed for the stealing of the Blind Man's son. Sometimes the Tramp is seen to have wicked intentions and is clumped together with them.
They are included in the celebration of Christ's birth (an indication of the realization of how far the depth of redemption extends) - although they are said to have stayed at a safe distance from the manger, due to their reputation for stealing babies.
The former pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Manchester, New Hampshire, Father Charles DesRuisseaux, has a Santons collection once displayed annually at the diocesan museum. He tells the legend of the "Gypsy Séraphin who hears the Angel Boufarèu blow his trumpet to announce that le Bon Dieu (the Good God) 'has become a daddy.' For the first time in his life, Séraphin feels guilty for stealing. He tries to give Mary the stolen chicken and eggs, but Mary tells him, 'I realize you have a big heart, but my Son would prefer that you give them back to their owner.'. . . From that day, the Gypsy never stole again.”
For photos of the history and workshop of Carbonel enjoy our Marcel Carbonel Santons board on Pinterest.
New Carbonel Santons for 2013 - Victorine (Grande), the Quilter (Elite), and the Ribbon Merchant (Cricket)
Every year the Marcel Carbonel Santons workshop in Marseille creates at least one new Santon, and this year they have offered us three.
In Size #3 (Grande) - Victorine - a young girl with her doll
She is also available in Size #2 (Elite): find her here
For Size #2 (Elite), they have presented an entirely new character, a very special Santon - the Quilting Woman - Femme au boutis
For us, one of the delights in the world of Santons are the Provencal textiles, so having a figure representing the wonderful fabrics and quilts of Provence is more than special.
Finally, the third new Santon for 2013 is in Size #1 (Cricket) - the Ribbon Merchant - Femme aux rubans. A street peddler, she wanders the villages selling her beautiful, festive wares.
The Ribbon Merchant is also available in Sizes #2 and #3. Find them here
We are not certain as to why the Carbonel studios came up with such an abundance of new Santons this year. Perhaps it is because Marseille, the home of the Carbonel Workshops, is the European Capital of Culture for 2013. They have honored not just the city of Marseille, but the area stretching from Martigues to La Ciotat and have also included Arles, Aix, Aubagne and other towns and villages in the area. We are all familiar with the Santons figures from Arles. And Aubagne is the center for ceramicists and Santons. Whatever there reason - we are more than pleased to offer these wonderful new figures.
For photos of the history and workshop of Carbonel enjoy our Marcel Carbonel Santons board on Pinterest.
Margarido - Woman on a Donkey - the Eighth (8th) Essential Santon for a Provençal Creche
Margarido, The Woman on a Donkey – Femme sur l’ane (French) – is number 8 on the list of the top 20 Essential Santons for a Provençal Creche. She is available in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons sizes offered by My Growing Traditions.
Stemming from the early Christmas play, the Pastorale of Antoine Maurel, Margarido and her husband, Mr. Jourdan, are symbols of the middle class. She is infamous as a woman with a very bad temper, a gossip, and one who nags her husband. In the Pastorale, Roustido belatedly, as a latecomer, and in the middle of the night, beckons the couple to scurry to the Stable. There exist other references to Margarido arriving early at the Stable, literally travelling on the heels of the shepherds (the first to hear the angel's cry). Either way, Margarido comfortably and proudly rides her donkey, while trying to hurry along her husband as he trudges along beside them. Daniel Foley compares her to an "old duchess."
To shelter herself from the sun, she wears a wide-brimmed black hat over her white lace headdress and carries a basket filled with an offering, perhaps a gift from her garden or a cake, for the Christ Child.
The Knife Grinder - the Fifth (5th) Essential Santon for a Provençal Creche
The Knife and Scissors Grinder - Le Remouler (French) - L'Amoulaire (Provençaux) – is number 5 on the list of the top 20 Essential Santons for a Provençal Creche. He is available in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons sizes offered by My Growing Traditions.
He wears an apron of hide, holds a knife, and has a watering can in place for use in sharpening his knives on his grindstone.
He is known in the folklore as Pimpara and for being one of the "cheapjacks," otherwise called beggars, tramps, or gypsies. He travels the roads selling his services, dipping into villages on his way. From village to village he enjoys taking with him the local gossip, embellishing as he goes. Entertaining he is and ever so cheerful. The villagers, in fact, invest in his cheerfulness. He does not make that much money, so he is given a little tip in the form of a "chicoulon," a little glass of drink. Everyone looks forward to seeing him.
In keeping with his being a "cheapjack," there are references to his bad temper and evil ways. "Some santon makers have created a knife grinder with a truly devilish look, because this itinerant tradesman does not enjoy the best of reputations." And the folklore has it that seeing the Christ Child softens him and that in fact the miracle he receives upon arriving at the Stable is to be cured of his drunkenness. (Foley, p. 120)
The Knife and Scissors Grinder derives from one of the most famous Provencal Christmas plays, Antoine Maurel’s Pastorale. He is one of the oldest Santons characters. Daniel Foley writes that Leon Simon (1845-1916), a professional sculptor and a member of a famous Santonnier family, was the first to create a Santon in commemoration of the Knife Grinder.
The Miller – the Sixth (6th) "Essential" Santon for a Provençal Creche
The Miller– Le Meunier (French) – Lou Mounie (Provençaux) is the sixth most favorite Santon on the list of the top 20 Santons included in the creche by the Provençal people - see our earlier post, the Essential Santons for a Provençal Creche. He is available in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons sizes offered by My Growing Traditions.
His inclusion in the Santons creche originates with early productions of the nativity story, in the Creche-Parlante and in Antoine Maurel's Pastorale. In the Creche-Parlante (itinerant/travelling, puppet-shows, also known as the "speaking creche") the Miller, dressed in white and covered in flour, and his counterpart the Chimney Sweep, dressed in black and covered in soot, put on quite the show. A highly comical tussle between the two results in each becoming grey, or sometimes the Chimney Sweep comes out white and the Miller ends up black. Either way, the moral is that good and bad are easily confused.
The Miller always wears his white cotton cap (a symbol of his trade). Known for his laziness and by the name Langesse, he provides the flour for the daily bread and, thus, is truly important to all in the village. He is said by some to have been among the first to hear the angels call. He hurries to the stable with a large sack of flour on his back to give to Mary.
He is available on his donkey
and he is also represented in the Santons world by the Windmill (available in all 4 sizes) and the gifts from the Miller, available in Size #2.
The Windmill is typical of Provençal windmills with its large sails standing proud atop a hillside. To many in Provence, the Windmill and the Miller remind them of Alphonse Daudet's windmill in the town of Fontvieille, and, of course, of the delightful book by Daudet read widely at the turn of the 20th century, Letters from my Mill.
In his 1959 book Little Saints of Christmas: The Santons of Provence, Daniel J. Foley provides a rather delightful Provençal legend depicting the miracle received by the Miller:
"The miller is one of the most important men in the village. He grinds all the flour for the bread. His livelihood depends on the whims of the wind to produce the power that turns his mills. He is continually in a state of confusion.
For days his mill has been silent, as there has been no wind to turn the sails. Everybody has brought grain to be ground and some of the housewives are already feeling the pinch as they need the flour to make bread and cakes to help celebrate the New Year. The bakers are in despair due to the demand of the travelers who are passing through the village on their way to Bethlehem for the Kings' census. The miller is beside himself and feels that only help from Heaven would be of any avail.
In the middle of the night he is awakened by a loud noise. At first he thought it was his wife snoring, but he soon discovers that the mill is turning rapidly and all the grain has been ground into flour. He was too busy at the time to figure out what had happened.
Later his neighbor told him of the Divine Birth. Then he knew it was the Lord who set the windmill in motion.
The miracle gave him plenty of flour to load up his donkey and head off to offer the sacks of flour as his gift to the Holy Family."
Roustido - The Man with the Lantern - the Seventh (7th) "Essential" Santon for a Provençal Creche
Roustido, The Man with the Lantern – Homme à la lanterne (French) – is the seventh most favorite Santon on the list of the top 20 Santons included in the creche by the Provençal people – see our earlier post, the Essential Santons for a Provençal Creche. He is available in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons sizes offered by My Growing Traditions.
Roustido derives from Antoine Maurel’s Pastorale. In the Pastorale, he is a friend and neighbor of Margarido and her husband Mr. Jourdan. Roustido is older and hard of hearing. A former notary, he is sometimes portrayed with a hat - see Size #1 - rather than his night cap (Sizes 3, 2, and Puce). As a notary he is also associated with a red umbrella, although the Carbonel studios have not used the umbrella with any of their Roustido Santons.
He is late to hear the shepherds call. One of the few remaining in the village in the middle of the night, he uses his lantern to go to Margarido and Mr. Jourdan in order to rouse them. Once at the stable he greets the Holy Family with a doff of his cap.
Santons Prayer - Christmas Eve in Provence
The Santons Prayer quoted in the 1940s has traditionally been recited by the children of Provence as they gather around the creche after Christmas Eve supper has been celebrated. Some refer to it as the Christmas prayer of the Children of Provence.
"Little Jesus of the Crib:
Make us philosophical as the fisherman,
Carefree as the drummer,
Merry as the troubadour in exploring the world,
Eager for work as the bugler, patient as the spinner,
Kind as the ass, strong as the ox which keeps you warm.
Give us the sacred leisure of the hunter,
Give us also the desire of the shepherd for earthly things,
The pride in our work of the knife grinder and the weaver,
The song of the miller.
Grant us the knowledge of the Magi, the cheerfulness of the pigeon,
The impulsiveness of the cock, the discretion of the snail,
The meekness of the lamb. Give us the goodness of bread,
The tenderness of the wild boar, the salt of the haddock,
The good humor of old wine, the ardor of the candle,
The purity of the star.
Make us equal, dear Jesus, to our ancestors who honored you with their Christmas cribs.
Let us continue this custom while they watch over us in a Heaven which must resemble our Cribs with the Good Mother, the Infant Jesus, the angels, and these santons who are so kind they never speak an ill word of any person.
Pray, Lord, for our ancestors who passed down the Crib, for our mothers who taught us its art, for our fathers, for our homes.
We pray at your feet, Good Jesus, who wished to be born among the lowly people of this earth.
Pray for our native land, for the peace of its firesides, and for the future of our people.
Lord, pray for Provence! And upon the sea of this world, guard it as the land of your affections!"
- Foley, Little Saints of Christmas, pp. 36-37
From what Foley says, it would appear that this traditional prayer was commonly customized to include all the Santons figures in each individual family creche.
We also found this shorter version, simply cited as an Old French prayer from Provence:
"Little Jesus of the crib. Give us the virtues of those that surround you. Make us philosophical as the fisherman. Carefree as the drummer. Merry as exploring the world as the troubadour. Eager for work as the bugler. Kind as the ass. Strong as the ox that keeps you warm."
