Musée du santon Marcel Carbonel, museum in France

The musée du santon Marcel Carbonel was a private museum in Marseille devoted to Provençal santons, the small painted figurines of the Nativity. Its collection, assembled by santonnier Marcel Carbonel, held over 2,400 pieces in clay, papier-mâché, carved wood, Murano glass, plaster, ceramic, porcelain, corn, cork and fabric. A glass vitrine on a light wooden base displayed a miniature nativity with a straw-roofed stable and robed figures, above a lower shelf holding a small diorama of a stone house.

Marcel Carbonel began creating santons in Marseille in 1935 and developed a substantial collection over several decades of work. The museum opened in 1997 to share this collection with the public but closed in 2020.

These small clay figures represent a Provençal tradition deeply rooted in local Christmas celebrations and everyday storytelling. The handpainted santons show scenes of village life and religious moments that remain meaningful to people throughout the region.

The museum has been permanently closed to the public since 17 March 2020, so it cannot be visited; the address at 49 rue Neuve Sainte-Catherine is therefore of documentary interest only. In November 2023 most of the collection, more than 2,400 santons and figurines, was dispersed at an auction in Marseille held by the De Baecque house.

The museum displayed two Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition entries, Marcel Carbonel's own and that of Émilie Puccinelli-Meunier, alongside a collection of plaster moulds by Marseille sculptors Jean-Louis Lagnel and Auguste Pellegrini. In November 2023, more than 2,400 santons and figurines from Carbonel's collection were dispersed at an auction in Marseille held by the De Baecque house.