Càntir and botilla (water jugs)

What is

The càntir (in Palma it is said cànti) is the botijo: a closed vessel to have fresh water and drink from galet, without touching the spout with your mouth. At his side, the botija (botija), the vessel of water for work outside the home: the field, the car, the boat.

How is

• Càntir: oval shape, closed, flat base; a handle on top, a short neck on one side to fill it and, in front, a spout to drink from (Coll Conesa 2020).
• Bottle: hemispherical body, wide base, short and narrow neck, two bridge handles (Coll Conesa 2020). Depending on use:
• botilla de pareller — that of the farmhand who works with the yunta.
• boat boot — very wide and stable base.
• road bottle — to carry in the car.
• Boat cannon and fisherman cannon: models that the Coll Conesa catalog (2020) illustrates separately (differences in shape to be verified).
• Consol: round vessel flattened on one side that was hung for field work; series now disappeared (Archiduque, cited by Coll Conesa 2020).
• Gerra amb pixerell: the Mallorcan gerra with a single handle and spout, which acts as a large jug (DCVB).

How is fa

• Calcareous and light, porous clay: in Pòrtol, that of Es Pou des Coll; before, Son Cos/Marratxinet (Coll Conesa 2020).
• Turned in parts (closed body, neck, spout, handle) and joined (process to be verified with a gerrer).
• Unglazed, or only partially, so that it sweats (check the Pòrtol pieces).
• Current production of cantirs in Pòrtol: to be verified.

Com s'usa

• It is filled through the wide mouth; You drink galet through the spout, lifting it with your arm.
• The water cools because the porous mud allows a little of it to evaporate on the outside.
• In the field, the bottle in the shade of a tree; in the boat, the one with a wide base so that it does not overturn.

Vocabulary

• càntir / cànter: jug; in Palma, cànti.
• galet: fine stream; beure a galet, to drink without touching the spout.
• broc / pitorro: drinking spout.
• botilla: two-handled bottle for work.
• pareller: farmhand who farms with a pair of animals.
• consol: flat hanging bottle (series disappeared).
• pixerell: peak of the war that acts as a botijo.
• tantes vegades va el cànter a la font, que arriba que es trenca: saying (also bal.; DCVB).

History

• 1443: "hun quanter d'aram" in a document cited by the DCVB.
• 1662: «tres cantes e un selló tot de terra» (DCVB).
• 1869-1891: the Archduke, in Die Balearen, describes series now lost such as the consols (Coll Conesa 2020).
• 20th century: the refrigerator and the plastic bottle relegate the cantir.

On veure'n

• Fang Museum (Sa Cabaneta) · Fang Fair .
• Museum of Mallorca, Etnològica Section (Wall) : traditional ceramics.
• Olleries de Pòrtol (ask for cans and botilles): Can Bernadí , Cas Canonge .

Why is it design

• Passive cooling: mud porosity and evaporation, without energy.
• Hygiene by form: drinking from a galet avoids touching the spout; a vessel for many.
• One form per trade: pareller, boat, road; The base and handles change with the place of use.
• Local and cheap material: clay from the town, a piece that is easily replaced.

For the project

• Piece: contemporary canister or bottle for office or table (fresh water without refrigerator) with a Pòrtol gerrer.
• Investigation: recover the console from the Archduke's drawing.
• Trade: ceramics-i-gerreria . Files: alfabia-gerra-i-gerrico , torn-de-gerrer , llaut-com-a-objecte , carro-mallorqui .

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=cànter
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=gerra
• contents.idi.es/images/documents/Catalogo_XII_Jornadas_Baleares_20.pdf
• ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A0ntir

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

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