Traditional Arts and Crafts
( artisania) In Mallorca has a rich tradition in arts and crafts and an
amazing market for that. The embroidery hand made, carved olive wood, forged
iron, the artistical glasses, the manufacturing of palm and raffie, the
articicial pearls, the ceramics, the manufactured shoes, the exquisite
jewellery creations make up the extraordinary temptations for the visitors.
The famous pearls from Manacor and Flanitx, the embroidery is from great
quality in the whole of the island.
In addition to the production
of pottery, which is found in all parts with a rustic tradition, Majorca
has a complete collection of crafts, from those manufacturing centres which
made the island and its main port one of the wealthiest and most advanced
in the Mediterranean. Thus glassware, made since c. XIV, and enriched with
contributions from c. XVIII Venice, is still made with the methods that
have always been employed. Along the Algaida road, you will find an important
factory where it is still possible to watch the traditional glassblowing
process.
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Majorcan furniture has always
had the prestige consistent with its high quality finish, the lathe-turned
wood and the llengues fabric -in green, blue or pink tones- are the main
elements in the decoration of the traditional peasant houses.
It is nonetheless, in the
field of pottery where there is most to discover. The siurell, to begin
with, is a very modest whistle made from baked, whitewashed clay, which
takes on shapes of a horse, a bull or strange characters. The gerreta felanitxera,
that is, the little jug from Felanitx, is no longer made in its place of
origin. Only Consell has managed to retain the old techniques for making
jugs and little baskets from "embroidered" and whitewashed clay, for purely
decorative purposes. In the same place and also in Santa Maria, Llucmajor,
Campanet, Manacor, Marratxi and Santa Margalida the potter/s workshops
are still working and producing a wide range of domestic pots, some of
which take on peculiar shapes. The plats morenos (dark plates) of Inca
and the pitxers (wine jugs) are highly recommendable objects.
We mention finally the crafts
made from palms, found mainly in Capdepera, as an example of that type
of production of humble articles which can achieve high values as unique
objects. |
