My first nativity scene

My first nativity scene is a pocket-sized crèche: five santons (the small Provençal nativity figures) 2.5 cm tall, Mary, Joseph, the infant Jesus, the donkey and the ox, kept in a red velvet pouch with a small folding cardboard backdrop. Bring it out at Christmas on a shelf or a desk, and put it back in its pouch for the rest of the year.

The santons are made in Marseille by the Marcel Carbonel workshop, a Marseille santon maker. They are fired clay figures, hand-painted in gouache; the 2.5 cm size is the smallest in the range, the one the workshop calls "puces" (fleas). Made in France.

The puces are fragile: handle them by the base, dust them with a soft brush and keep them away from water. The drawstring pouch protects the whole set between seasons.