Handsome vintage French Provencal Santon Clay Doll Figure Village Peasant Fisherman

12 inches tall

Signed on clay base S. Jouglas for Simone Jouglas

All terra cotta clay except for arms, which can be posed

Interesting bare feet with lots of detail

Hand painted facial features and hair and beard

Plaster dust coming out from under his beard

Dressed in dark brown fabric trousers, dark brown woven cloth jacket, and tanwoven cloth sweater

Holding felt hat

He has a canvas tackle bag, satchel over his shoulder

Wooden stem, stub in his mouth, perhaps from a pipe he may have had

Not attached are accessories of a net, a woven straw basket with moss and a bundle of real wood twigs

No fading

Deliberate wear to his clothing to reflect daily use, like tears in his trousers, frayed hems

He weighs .56 kg or just over 1 1/4 lb before packaging

French Santon dolls and figures are an age old tradition in France, made from terra cotta clay by craftsmen and artists. They began as religious creche figures and figures of Saints, and then they began to make them to honour the everyday Saints of regular French life, the villagers and peasants and workers. Simone Jouglas was born in 1905 and died in 2001. The only one to survive the war in her family, she began making Santon dolls in the late 30s after entering the Academy of Fine Arts of Marseilles as a ceramicist and is credited for being the first artist to dress a Santon in fabric clothing. She carefully carved the clay for their intricate faces and used cloth rescued or remnants made in France. She continued making the dolls until her death but her workshop still operates using original clay moulds.