So what is a Santon?
A Santon (pronounced roughly like sonn-tonn) is a small, handmade clay figurine.
The characters typically represent vegetable sellers, bakers, men selling chestnuts, local dignitaries, or other personalities from daily village life.
And they're quite little indeed, usually between two and 15 centimetres in height.
Where do I find them?
In nativity scenes all over France - but especially in the south. They originated in Provence.
Are these a new thing?
Hardly. They've been around in various forms for hundreds of years, but first took a clay form at the end of the 18th century thanks to the handiwork of Marseille-born artist Jean-Louis Lagnel.
He is generally credited with inventing the product as we know it today, although it wasn't until after his death in 1822 that they were called "Santons". Indeed, in Lagnel's time the figurines weren't heated up during the production process, so didn't last nearly as long as they do today.
Hang on, the end of the 18th century - is this something to do with the French revolution?
Indeed, well spotted. The French revolution saw nativity scenes banned and churches closed, so making the little saints was a way of secretly maintaining the religious traditions - at risk of being guillotined, of course.
The word Santon literally translates as "Little Saint", but there is just as much a focus on the other characters in a village, as well as Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.
The artist - called a santonnier - carves the figurine from clay, makes a two-piece plaster cast of it, then makes several more figurines from the plaster form. The Santons are then dried, put in the kiln, and then hand painted, usually in very bright colours.
Santonniers often go to great lengths to make the backgrounds of the nativity scene too, including making buildings, using local produce for trees and plants, and putting clothes on the figurines.
Some santonniers stick with traditional religious figures, others paint modern celebrities.
They are not to be confused with the figure of el caganer or 'the crapper'. Although this is mainly a Spanish tradition you will see these figures in the south-west of France.
It's a comic addition to the traditional nativity scene of a figure who is discretely having a poo - they're often painted to look like modern celebrities, as our sister site The Local Spain explains.
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