Vaillancourt 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 more than 3,000 vintage molds - 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.

Judi's chocolate molds date 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. The mold-makers were skilled artisans who sculpted beautiful details into their molds and lovingly passed their craft and their molds down through the generations.

Today, Vaillancourt Folk Art (VFA) is one of America's last remaining Christmas ornament and collectibles makers. Unlike most Christmas collectibles, which are manufactured overseas, Vaillancourt chalkware figures are still made by hand at the VFA studio in Sutton, Mass.

Individually designed by Judi Vaillancourt and hand painted by staff artists, the VFA studio and Gift Shop has garnered much national attention, including feature articles in Colonial Homes, Country Living, and Yankee Magazine, amongst others. In 2005, VFA will be featured on Antiqu Road Show, FYI.

The full line of Vaillancourt figurines are available in the studio's gift shop and in many nationally known stores including Nordstroms, saks 5th ave., Marshall Fields and Colonial Williamsburg. In addition, Vaillancourt Folk Art has been used as party favors at official State Department and United Nations function.

Behind-the-scenes tours of the Vaillancourt studio are welcomed and are open to the public by appointment.