Canterano (chest of drawers with desk) — Traditional Mallorcan object

What is

The Majorcan chest of drawers: a piece of furniture with stacked drawers with a board on top. In the Balearic Islands it is the household word for what in Catalonia is called calaixera .

Spelling: youth player, masculine. Majorcan pronunciation [kəntəɾˈno] (DCVB). Cantarano appears in texts (Maura writes “cantarano”), but it is not a DCVB entry.

In Palma canterano also means the bride's trousseau (DCVB): the piece of furniture and what it holds share a name.

How is

Body with three or four long drawers, sometimes a tall drawer with compartments.
Short legs; In the 18th century, the "ball and neck of the legs" allow us to recognize a Mallorcan piece (restorers Àngels Creus and Joan Güell, 2014).
Some without drawer guides: the drawer runs on wheels (same source).
Woods: noguer (walnut) with d'os profiles (white bone fillets), c. 1750; mahogany and lemongrass in the neoclassical.
Decoration: carving, marquetry, painting, lacca povera (glued and varnished engravings), gilding.
Fine example (Sotheby's, 2015): pair of painted and gilded mahogany chests of drawers, mid-19th century, 106 × 139 × 66 cm; top drawer with mirror and three compartments with lid; winged sphinx legs.

How is fa

Work of the fuster d'obra prima (fine work) or the cabinetmaker, not the fuster d'obra grossa (Pou, 2016).
Drawers assembled with milà wedge, veneer and marquetry in the Palma workshops (see moble-neoclassic-i-isern ).
Village versions in pine or walnut (per verify documented specimens).

Com s'usa

In the bedroom or living room: linen, trousseau, documents.
Above, the shop window (glass urn) with devotional images: "dins a shop window damunt es cantorano" (Maura, cited in the DCVB).
Dowry furniture: Palma's name for the trousseau confirms this.

Vocabulary

canterano: chest of drawers (Bal.); in Palma, also trousseau (DCVB).
calaix: drawer.
perfils d'os: embedded bone fillets.
escaparate: urn or small display case on the piece of furniture.
canterano amb llit: bed furniture, announced in 1824 (Pou, 2016).
lacca povera: decoration of glued and varnished engravings.

History

17th century: enters Catalan from the Canterano Italian (DCVB).

-c . 1750: "canterano de noguer ab profiles blancs d'os", doc. cited by Aguiló (DCVB).

18th century (2nd half): Majorcan lacca povera chest of drawers travels to Barcelona and Madrid; identified in 2014 (Última Hora).
1824: the Diario Balear announces in Palma "a mahogany quarry with a bed" (Pou, 2016).
Mid-19th century: painted mahogany chests of drawers attributed to Adrià Ferran (Sotheby's; popular attribution, Pou warns).

On veure'n

Can Vivot (Palma): youth players and cadiram d'estil Carles III (Associació per a l'Estudi del Moble, 2022). Private house, occasional visits.
La Granja d'Esporles: chest of drawers with a six-pointed inlaid star (Pou, 2016).
Museu de Mallorca, Etnològica Section (Wall) : Mallorcan bedroom (part of the rooms closed since 2019, to be verified).
Antique shops and auctions: look for "majorcan chest of drawers", not "canterano".

Why is it design

A name for two things: furniture and trousseau. The form keeps a domestic economy.
Signs of workshop: ball and leg neck, bone fillets: legible local style.
Drawer module: access to each piece without emptying the set.

For the project

Piece: contemporary canterano in pine or Majorcan walnut with bone or olive fillet.
Contact: Amics del Moble Antic association of Mallorca (Lloseta, to be verified) to catalog family pieces.
Trades: carving-and-furniture-Mallorca · fusteria-Mallorca · carving-and-sculpture-in-whip . Workshops: Fusteria Tomeu Mestre (Sineu) , Ca'n Llull (Palma) , Sonia Restaura (Inca) . Files: calaixera , caixa-de-nuvia .

Frequently asked questions

What is Canterano (chest of drawers with desk)?

The Majorcan chest of drawers: a piece of furniture with stacked drawers with a board on top. In the Balearic Islands it is the household word for what in…

What are the traditional words for Canterano (chest of drawers with desk)?

Some words: calaix, canterano, canterano amb llit, escaparate, lacca povera, perfils d'os.

Sources

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

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