The Old Couple - the Fourth (4th) "Essential" Santon for a Provençal Creche
In March 2012 we published Essential Santons for a Provençal Creche - a list of the top 20 Santons included in the creche by the Provençal people. The Santon figure The Old Couple - Les Vieux (French) - Li Viei (Provençaux) was the fourth most vital Santon to be included in the Provençal creche and is available in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons sizes offered by My Growing Traditions. They are also known by their first names in the Provençaux language: Grasset (the old man) and Grasseto (the old woman).
The Santon "the Old Couple" derives from the pastorale play "La Bistagne" composed by Bistagne and Gauthier and from the old "Creche-Parlante" - speaking creche. Pastorales are Provençal Christmas plays that tell the story of the birth of Christ. They are presented each year by Provençal villagers and are a part of the oral history passed down from generation to generation on Christmas Eve. The Provençal nativity uniquely consists of the biblical characters in traditional biblical dress with typical Provençal village characters, in 19th century dress, who have come to the manger to celebrate Jesus’ birth.
The Old Couple, the plump, elderly man and woman, walk slowly and with tenderness, arm-in-arm, to the crib. They wear their finest clothes to honor the Savior. She wears a white cotton headdress, with a printed scarf over her shoulders and a simple apron, both of Provençal prints. He is in his best suit and may carry a lantern to light their way. They may bring with them a variety of gifts: a wicker basket of food (containing perhaps fruit, quince, or goat cheese), dried cod, and garlic. She is slightly stooped. They are happy in their old age. They come to the manger to express their thanks for the blessings they have received, and their request is a simple one: to leave this life together as they have lived it day-in-day-out. They are important to the creche as they represent the fidelity of a couple in old age - the contentedness of two lives well-lived, entwined. Together, they embody the worthiness of life.
Affordable and Elegant - the Original Inge-Glas Bride's Tree Set
My Growing Traditions has an exceptional offering when it comes to Inge-Glas' traditional Bride's Tree Set:
- the original full set of 12 mouth-blown, hand-painted, German ornaments symbolic of the blessings to be bestowed upon the newly minted couple. Complete with a Heart representing True Love; a House (Protection); Santa (Goodwill); Fruit (Generosity); a Fish (Christ's Blessing); a Teapot (Hospitality); a Rabbit (Hope and Faith); an Angel (God's Wisdom); a Flower Basket (Good Wishes); a Rose (Affection); a Pine Cone (Motherhood); and a Bird (Happiness and Joy).
- in the German cardboard presentation and storage box with the symbol of each ornament printed on the side of the box
- WITH the presentation certificate that comes in the wooden box set,
- and with individual cards tucked in with each ornament stating the symbolism of the specific ornament. We show here, as an example, the two sides of the Santa card:
This set is perfect for so many occasions: bridal showers, weddings, first Christmases, and anniversaries.
At $6.67 per individual German ornament, the price is special.
You won't find anyone else selling this set packaged so artfully. And, we offer replacements for each and every one of these ornaments should they ever be needed in the future.
Vote for your favorite German Christmas Market
About.com German Travel section is taking a vote of people's favorite German Christmas Markets. You can register your votes by visiting their website here.
The cities listed are: Munich, Berlin, Nuremberg, Dresden, Cologne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Trier, and Dusseldorf.
One can vote for more than one city and tell them about others that you favor in their comment section.
We offer Advent Calendars for the Christmas markets of the cities highlighted above. Good memories.
Brück and Sohn European Advent calendars now available at My Growing Traditions
For years as we lived and travelled in Europe, we found ourselves purchasing these wonderful Advent calendars as a memento of our trips. We didn't really need to purchase much of anything as a souvenir, but were taken with the fact that Brück and Sohn's Advent calendars represented not only a memory, but were also useful, and really quite nice art. Actually, there was an additional reason, the Brück and Sohn printing house is in Meissen, Germany. With our love of pottery/china/porcelain, travel to the Meissen Porcelain factory was imperative. We enjoyed two trips to Meissen and were truly charmed by this small town, with it's village square and the Frauenkirche's Meissen porcelain bells.
There, right in the center of town was the Brück and Sohn printing house, a small business thriving on an exquisite product.
The Brück and Sohn printing house has been in business since 1793 and we are proud to finally be able to offer their Advent calendars at My Growing Traditions. It is a family business now owned and managed by the seventh Brück generation.
We do have favorite Advent calendars, probably because they are of places we experienced. On the whole they celebrate the Christmas Markets of individual cities. Below is their calendar for Meissen, itself.
A particular favorite is not of a specific city in Germany, but rather of the wood-turner from Germany's Erzgebirge region--an important center of Germany's toy making industry. The Erzgebirge, with its town of Seiffen and the surrounding villages, is renown for the production of wooden German Folk Art, especially folk art important to Christmas.
Our offerings this year are of the German cities: Berlin, Dresden, Meissen, Nurnberg, Rothenburg, Salzburg, Seiffen, and Stuttgart. We also have their calendar for the Nauschweinstein Castle (the inspiration for the castle of Disneyland), for the city of Colmar in Alsace, France, and of Vienna, Austria. You can find our Brück and Sohn selection here.
Snapshot in Time - Marcel Carbonel Santons Maker, New York Times 1990 article
We remember in those early years of searching on the internet, looking up Marcel Carbonel Santons and finding this New York Times article of December 23, 1990: Shopper's World; Fanciful Creche Figures of Provence.
The article spoke to us in many ways. It introduced us to the fact that the wonderful, colorful, Santons nativity figures of France are loved all over the world. "In millions of homes all over France -- and indeed, the world -- the handmade santons are an enduring part of Christmas."
Most charming of all was the description of Marcel Carbonel (1911-2003):
"One fall morning, Marcel Carbonel is seated at a workbench in his immaculate white lab coat, sculpturing a fishwife. He works with a fine-pointed instrument, painstakingly modeling the face and clothing; he's having trouble with the tiny fish she carries on a plate.
When the clay piece finally meets his standards, which could take many hours, it will be used to create a plaster mould. That original mould, in turn, will go to make production moulds, hundreds of which line the shelves of the workshop. One of them, in fact, is in use: a workman places a glob of clay between the two halves of a mould, leans forward so that his weight squeezes them together and -- voila -- a donkey. After the wear and tear of 1,000 donkeys, that mould will be broken.
(Production moulds of popular figures, such as the infant Jesus, may last only two weeks.) The donkeys will spend about 12 hours in the workshop's kilns and then move to the painters' tables. There, santons come alive as the vibrant colors are applied: the red cockscomb, the basketmaker's blue shirt, the orange tile rooftops of the villagers' homes....
Looking back over the years, Mr. Carbonel recalls worrying that his craft might die out, but he helped lead the effort to promote the santons around France and the world. 'The tradition will go on,' he declares firmly, with a glance toward his 32-year-old grandson, Philippe Renoux, an executive with the firm and himself a talented santonnier."
Marcel Carbonel earned the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France (best craftsman in France) in 1961. He created his own pigments, unique to the Carbonel Santons Workshops. He built the Marcel Carbonel Santons Workshops employing around 50 artisans, a "giant in a trade typically practiced in one-and two-person workshops." For all these reasons, and especially because he was so instrumental in celebrating the Santons' heritage of Provence, Marcel Carbonel will always be remembered.
Personalize your Christmas traditions with the perfect ornament from Inge-Glas®
Sports is such an important part of our lives. We work, we learn, and we play. And that play is ever so good for us as individuals. Play includes group and individual athletic activities--super for our bodies and even more super for our minds. Inge-Glas® of Germany (the oldest Christmas Ornament company in the world) offers some very nice mouth-blown, hand-painted, glass "sports" ornaments. What could be more special than to personalize your tree with an ornament that symbolizes the importance of "the sport" that is dearest to you and yours. Celebrate with ornaments beautifully created by Inge-Glas®: baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, skating, and ballet (yes, ballet is most definitely an athletic endeavor). Find them: here
And, if you have a Golf Santa in your house, Inge-Glas® has an ornament just for him:
Fun to play and fun to bring out these delightful ornaments year-after-year.
Man in Awe - the No. #2 "Essential" Santon for a Provençal Creche
In March 2012 we published Essential Santons for a Provencal Creche - a list of the top 20 Santons included in the creche by the Provençal people. The Man in Awe – Homme Ravi or Le Ravi (French) – Lou Ravi (Provençal) was the second most vital Santon included in the Provençal creche. The Man in Awe - also referred to as the delighted one, the blissful one, awestricken, enraptured, naive, innocent, even the village idiot (in a fond and ever so nice way) - is always portrayed with arms raised to the sky, dumbfounded and overjoyed on hearing the news of Jesus' birth. The word "ravi" comes from "ravissement," meaning rapture. He may be a simple lad, but not when it comes to his ability to recognize the joyousness of the Saviour's birth.
Derived from the pastorals of the 19th century, he is a farmhand who comes to the manger with nothing more to offer than the sheer delight and wonder that he feels. He has a nightcap on his head and wears a flowery shirt or waistcoat.
He is available in all four Marcel Carbonel Santons' sizes that we offer. From left to right: Size #3, Size #2, Size #1, and Puce.
Carbonel also makes a female version: The Woman in Awe - Femme Ravie (French) - La Ravido (Provençal). There exist references to her as the Man in Awe's wife, and as Charles Galtier* notes, she appears in the same pose of "unspeakable happiness." Again, from left to right: Size #3, Size #2, Size #1, and Puce.
The final Man in Awe figure created by the Carbonel workshops, is quite special, half figure and half accessory to a Stable. Available only in Size #2, he is the Cut-Off Man in Awe, meant to set in (in fact, to hang out of) a stable window. Galtier notes that when the pair of "Delighted Ones" appear in the same creche as the Cut-Off Delighted One at the window, the latter is known as The Astonished One, l'Estouna (Provençal) or the Blissful One, lou Badin-Badau (Provençal) ."*
* Galtier, Charles. Provençal Figures. Rennes, France: Editions Ouest-France, 1996.
