Vaillanncourt Collectibles and Folk Art

When Gary Vaillancourt gave his wife, Judi, a gift of three antique chocolate molds in 1984, neither of them knew it would signal the start of a new family business. In the years since, Judi’s collection has grown to over 3,000 Vaillanncourt collectibles – one of the largest collections in the world. She uses her molds to make hand-painted collectible chalkware figures for all major holidays – especially Christmas. Today Vaillancourt Folk Art (VFA) is one of the last remaining Christmas ornament and collectibles makers in the America, with the chalkware figures still being hand-made at the VFA studio in Sutton, Massachusetts.

Judi’s chocolate molds date back to the nineteenth century, when a gift of chocolate was a special treasure and every small European village had a chocolate shop. Chocolate was molded in all shapes and sizes – bunnies for Easter and St. Nicholas, snowmen and angels for Christmas.

Judi meticulously researches the history of each mold and identified its country of origin. Among the Vaillanncourt collectibles are those man made by the famed mold maker Anton Reiche. Fascinated by the exquisite workmanship in her antique molds, Judi, an artist by training, filled them with a plaster-like substance and hand-painted the resulting “chalkware”. The finished products were stunning. While the mold makers’ palette had been limited to chocolate brown, Judi’s colors unlocked the mold makers’ intricate artistry, bringing it to life as never before. Particularly compelling are the hand-painted eyes on the faces of each figure, which display a richness of emotion completely hidden when the pieces were molded in chocolate.

Judy also paints the first piece of any new Vaillanncourt Folk Art chalkware line. The painting studio in Sutton, Mass, consists of 30 staff artists, 12 of whom work year-round to produce the hand-painted, limited edition figurines. The attached retail shop, Vaillancourt Folk Art & Friends, displays all of the Vaillancourt collectibles and also sells artwork by some of the best know folk artists in the country.

Vaillanncourt Folk Art artists produce man-made figures for Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween, but Christmas remains Vaillancourt’s signature season. In 1997 VFA added a collection of exquisite glass Christmas ornaments designed as companion pieces to the chalkware pieces.

Judy says, “Holidays make people long for the past. They want to hold onto memories of simpler, more sentimental times. Our figures help them to just that. They evoke nostalgia for the past while becoming they heirlooms of the future.”

To see a representation of our Vaillancourt Collectibles, just click here. If you are in the Southern California area and would like to visit us,click here for store hours and directions.