After having worked as barber for many years, Henri Salingardes, at the age of fifty, bought an old hotel in Cordes, in Tarn, where he had lived since 1903. Assiduously frequenting flea markets, he also traded in antiquities he unearthed, such as furniture and antique objects which he repaired and restored. His hotel quickly became a kind of Aladdin’s cave. From 1936, he developed another artistic activity in his outdoor workshop, pouring cement and kneading clay: he created medallions and animal assemblages or imaginary figures, glued onto a support and sometimes covered with imprints of leaves. Following a train accident in 1943, he lost a leg and ceased all his activities.