The town of São José is situated in the mesoregion of Greater Florianopolis, and 8km from this state capital of Santa Catarina. The municipality has 196,887 inhabitants (IBGE, 2007), lies at an average altitude of 8m, and can be reached by the federal highway BR-101. São José, like other towns on the Santa Catarina coast, began as the result of Azorean colonisation, and was the fourth settlement to be founded in the State of Santa Catarina. Today São José is fast becoming a tourist resort because of its beaches, lakes, historical architecture, amusements and handicraft.  One of the artisan items worth mentioning is the pottery production of Azorean origin and its clay figures. This town houses the Joaquim Antonio de Medeiro School of Potters, the only one of its kind in Brazil. And an outstanding example of clay figures is the work done by artist Zequinha, who made figurines representing the folklore of the coast of Santa Catarina, saints and Nativity scenes. The last mentioned attract attention because of their delicate characteristics, bringing to the fore the wonders of religion in Nativity scenes. This is an area where the production of the traditional figures is in decline.