A Féve For You, A Fève For Me

The other day I was browsing all the cool merchandise at Bowerbird in downtown Peterborough (Depot Square specifically) when I came upon a little bowl lined with moss and sticks containing these tiny little porcelain figures. Always a sucker for anything in miniature, I picked a couple up to more closely examine them. They appeared to be little religious figures so I brought them to the counter to ask what the story on them was. Owner Kathy Forrest identified them as antique French fèves. I'd never heard of them before so of course I had to do a little research. Hopefully the photos give enough perspective because these things are tiny! Barely an inch tall, I bought two of them and stood them on my kitchen windowsill to see what good old Google Lens had to say about them. The AI overview agreed they were indeed vintage French fèves, tiny porcelain or ceramic figures that were baked inside "galette des rois" (king's cake) for the Epiphany holiday. That left me confused, though. I thought king's cakes were for Mardi Gras, just before Lent begins and the figure baked into the cake is a plastic baby Jesus? Time for a little brush-up on Christianity. I have to admit I didn't know what the Epiphany was referring to. According to Wiki, Epiphany Eve is also known as Twelfth Night. Depending upon which Christian denomination, Twelfth Night is either January 5th or 6th. It's confusing given the modern meaning of "eve" as the day before an event. The Epiphany itself is also called Three Kings' Day or Little Christmas and "celebrates the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles." It marks the arrival of the three wise men, the Magi. The celebration is central to Western Christianity whereas Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River on this date — also the first public manifestation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. According to "History of Fèves" at www.fevecollector.com, the French tradition of baking fèves in holiday king cakes dates back centuries and it is also believed to be based on the ancient Roman Saturnalia festival where cultural norms were upended for the day and masters would often serve their slaves. The lucky slave that found a little trinket hidden in their slice of cake was "King of the Feast" and served as master for the day. Fève is the French word for fava beans and originally these served as the charm found in the cake. In 1870, the fava bean was replaced by tiny porcelain or ceramic charms often representing the Wisemen and choir members among other traditional attendees of the Epiphany. The two I purchased were a wise man and a choir member. The site goes on to say that these little good luck charms were cherished and saved and now are very collectible. Those little plastic baby Jesus figures are based on the same Epiphany king cakes and hidden good luck charms. It's just that culturally the tradition in New Orleans evolved to a little baby Jesus and marked the beginning of Carnival. According to the fèves collector site, beginning during WWI, when porcelain was scarce, even French fèves began to be produced in plastic and that the wise collector has to have a very discerning eye to be sure they've got a true antique. While the WWI plastic versions are certainly vintage, there's even newer plastic versions that are less valuable. One last fève fact! To ensure that cake pieces are randomly distributed and every participant has a chance to get the lucky charm, it's a tradition that the youngest guest duck under the table and name who each piece of cake is destined for. What a fun, merry tradition!