Canapè (Mallorcan settee)

What is

Multi-seater sofa with backrest and arms. In Mallorca also ganapè (DCVB, with Mallorcan pronunciation).

How is

• Long seat, backrest and arms, carved or turned legs.
• In 1780 a Mallorcan ganapè was “fet de quatre cadires de Barcelona”: four chair backs united on the same bench (DCVB).
• Wood: walnut, later mahogany; bova, mesh or upholstered seat.
• Variant: sofa bed, announced in Palma in 1818-1824 (Pou, 2016).

How is fa

• Work of a master of first work or cabinetmaker; legs and crossbars of the turner.

Com s'usa

• In the living room of the casal, against the wall, with the repòs cadirs of the same game.

Vocabulary

• canapè / ganapè: sofa.
• cadires de Barcelona: chair model cited in 1780 (to verify typology).
• cama sofá: sofa bed.

History

• 1780: «Ganapè fet de four cadires de Barcelona», doc. Majorcan cited by Aguiló (DCVB).
• 1818-1824: the Diario Balear advertises chairs, mahogany armchairs and "sofa beds" in Palma (Pou, 2016).

On veure'n

• Casales de Palma (Can Vivot), Els Calderers, La Granja d'Esporles (to verify pieces).

Why is it design

• Sum of modules: the canapè is born as several chairs joined together.
• From the bench to the sofa: the collective seat becomes comfortable.

For the project

• Piece: four-back canapè with bova seat, nod to the 1780 document.
• Trades: ebenisteria-i-moble-mallorqui · cadiraires-i-voga . Files: cadira-de-repos , cadira-de-boga-i-banc .

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=canap%E8
• reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/RM/article/download/10868/10432/20217

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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