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The santon characters originally represented people of Provence settiong out to carry offernings to the new-born. Other than the primary characters of the "crèche" (Nativity), the "Sainte Famille", these "little saints" should represent the Provencal characters and 16th-century Provencal trades listed here. Further expansion of characters are still quite legitimate for Provence, even if not included in original casts of characters: landscape painters, jewelers, farm workers, lavender cutters, card players, dentist, and so on.
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Le berger et son chein - Shephard and his dog
The first to arrive, with their sheep.
Les vieux - Old couple
Le vieux et la vieille", called Grasset and Grasseto (or Grasset et Grassette)
Le "ravi" - Village idiot, simpleton
With a long red bonnet.
Les tambourinaires - Drummers
Announcing the good news, with drum and flute (galoubet)
Le pêcheur - Fisherman
La poissonnière - Fish monger
Le porteur d'eau - Water carrier
Also called La femme à la cruche d'eau - the woman with the water jar.
Le bucheron - Woodcutter
Shown with an armload of wood; sometimes a woman (La femme au fagot)
La jardinière - Gardener
Or porteurs et porteuses de fruits et de légumes, with garden produce: garlic (ail), squash (courge), or Cavaillon cantaloup (melon de Cavaillon). Sometimes shown as a vegitable seller, such as La marchande d'ail.
La fermière - Farm woman
With farm produce, such as eggs.
Le meunier - Miller
Carries bags of flour from the mill.
Le boulanger - Baker
With bread, baguettes, or fougasse.
Le vannier - Basket maker
Carrying a basket to be used as a cradle for the new-born.
Le rétameur - Tinker, tinman
He re-tins the pots (casseroles)
Le rémouleur - Knife grinder
La fileuse à la quenouille - Spinning lady
"quenouille" is a distaff: a staff that holds the unspun wool from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand. Beyond's Lucéram village page has a photo of a real-life "fileuse".
La lavandière - Washer woman
She's at the "lavoir" or the stream, washing clothes (laver le linge)
Le chasseur - Hunter
Pistachié de le "Fada" -
Margarido sur son âne -
Le forgeron - Blacksmith
La femme au bouillon de poule - Woman with chicken broth
She carries a chicken in one hand and a pot of broth in the other.
L'aveugle - Blind person
Lou "boumian" - Bohemien
Tends to be a bad guy (Herod's hit man)
Le ramoneur - Chimney sweep
Les valets de ferme -
La femme au berceau - Woman with baby in a cradle
Symbolises the midwives (sages femmes)
La gardeuse d'oies - Goose herder
La marchande de limaçons - Snail seller
"limaçon" is Provencal for "escargot".
La vieille au calen - Lady with net
"calen" is a net put across the canal to catch fish (le calen c'est le filet qui traverse le canal)
Le montreur d'ours ou de marmottes - Bear trainer
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Photo gallery of 16 photos for Santon Characters
