Seated embroideress

In Provençal homes, embroidery filled the long winter evenings. Women embroidered young girls' trousseaus, initials on household linen, and the scarves and aprons of the traditional costume. Boutis, those large stitched and quilted pieces, were the pride of families and were passed down from mother to daughter.

Our embroiderer is shown seated at her work. This kind of character brings a peaceful scene to the Nativity: she is often set on the doorstep of a house, near a window or beside other village women. At 6 cm, she is perfect for a first Nativity scene, which you can enrich with new characters every year.

Like all the santons in our collection, she is made of clay, molded from a model hand-sculpted by the Fouque family. The parts are joined with slip, retouched, dried slowly and then fired at 960 °C. The colors are applied by hand, dot by dot.

Our workshop has carried on this art in Aix-en-Provence since 1934. You can see our characters at 65 cours Gambetta. For shipping, each santon is wrapped in paper and then bubble wrap; ships within 2 to 3 business days.