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International audience ; With the ceramicists of Aubagne First and foremost there is the affirmation of an ancestral tie with the earth. The symbolic significance of working with clay is clear and evidence of this is found from Pre-Roman times on in the ground beneath the town of Aubagne. With the discovery of glaze and enamel the production of pottery spread throughout Provence, and by the 17th century a quarter of the town's population was employed in ceramics. 1 Faience and ceramics began to be exported from the 18th century on. In the French West Indies these objects were actually called Daubagnes. Production became industrialized in the 19th century and in the 20th century it aroused the interest of a number of artists. In fact, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Ernest Pignon-Ernest and Pierre Ambrogiani went to Aubagne to have their works decorated or to make pottery. The major exhibition of Picasso's ceramics staged here on the occasion of Marseille-Provence, European Capital of Culture 2013 is also a more recent episode in this story. A blend of industry and artistic creation, the theme of clay lies at the heart of an identity strategy, reinforced by the art of making santons, originally figures for a Christmas crib, though now they have taken on many different forms (countless personalities from the world of politics and the arts have been santonnifiées – made into santons). These figure are deeply rooted in a history that melds religious and local traditions of the area. Indeed, before becoming the European Capital of Culture, Aubagne was already established as the capital of the santon. It has its networks of artisans, many of whom create original works, its museum, and its school with its 1 Enamel was used in Marseille in the Sainte-Barbe workshops (doubtless first established by Islamic potters from the South of Spain) from the end of the 12th beginning of the 13th century and was widespread in Provence and Languedoc in the 13th and 14th centuries. Glaze first appeared and came into general use in Provence and Languedoc from the 13th century onwards. In Aubagne, pupils of Italian artisans who had settled in Manosque founded the first workshops around 1510. From Abel V., Amouric H., eds., La céramique, l'archéologue et le potier. Études de céramiques à Aubagne et en Provence du XVI e au XIX e siècle. Exhibition catalogue, Aubagne 1991.

International audience ; With the ceramicists of Aubagne First and foremost there is the affirmation of an ancestral tie with the earth. The symbolic significance of working with clay is clear and evidence of this is found from Pre-Roman times on in the ground beneath the town of Aubagne. With the discovery of glaze and enamel the production of pottery spread throughout Provence, and by the 17th century a quarter of the town's population was employed in ceramics. 1 Faience and ceramics began to be exported from the 18th century on. In the French West Indies these objects were actually called Daubagnes. Production became industrialized in the 19th century and in the 20th century it aroused the interest of a number of artists. In fact, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Ernest Pignon-Ernest and Pierre Ambrogiani went to Aubagne to have their works decorated or to make pottery. The major exhibition of Picasso's ceramics staged here on the occasion of Marseille-Provence, European Capital of Culture 2013 is also a more recent episode in this story. A blend of industry and artistic creation, the theme of clay lies at the heart of an identity strategy, reinforced by the art of making santons, originally figures for a Christmas crib, though now they have taken on many different forms (countless personalities from the world of politics and the arts have been santonnifiées – made into santons). These figure are deeply rooted in a history that melds religious and local traditions of the area. Indeed, before becoming the European Capital of Culture, Aubagne was already established as the capital of the santon. It has its networks of artisans, many of whom create original works, its museum, and its school with its 1 Enamel was used in Marseille in the Sainte-Barbe workshops (doubtless first established by Islamic potters from the South of Spain) from the end of the 12th beginning of the 13th century and was widespread in Provence and Languedoc in the 13th and 14th centuries. Glaze first appeared and came into general use in ...