Mallorcan pottery and gerreria (Pòrtol, Sa Cabaneta, Felanitx) — Traditional craft of Mallorca

What it is and technique

Two families:

Olleria (Marratxí: Pòrtol and Sa Cabaneta): turned red clay for cooking and storing. Pieces: greixonera, pot, gerra, brown glazed plate. Lathe, air drying, oven.
Decorated ceramics (Felanitx): the felanitxera gerreta and hand-painted earthenware.

Three clay crafts, which the medieval guild already separated: ollers (fire pieces: olles, greixoneres), gerrers (water and pantry pieces: gerres, alfàbies, cossis) and teulers (tile, brick). Tile: see teules .

Short story

Prehistory (3rd millennium BC onwards): ceramics by hand (warped) and fired over a bonfire. In the Talayotic period, ground limestone is added to the mud (up to almost half the volume) and the temperature does not exceed 850-900 °C (Coll Conesa 2020).
Madina Mayurqa (10th-13th centuries): intramural pottery in Palma (Botons street, Santa Clara, Desbrull). Exported green and black earthenware; Mallorcan bowls inserted in San Piero a Grado (Pisa, 11th century). From this time come the words alfàbia (al-habiya), gerra (garrah), cadaf, caduf.
After 1229: Catalan repertoire with settlers from various origins. The Gremi d'Ollers, Gerrers i Teulers (brotherhood of the Santíssima Trinitat, room near the Socors convent) is organized. Governing board documented since the s. XVI. Inca had its own brotherhood around 1580 and up to 31 ovens (Coll Conesa 2020).
1582: the urban clays exhausted, the masters of Palma ask to exploit the land of Xorrigo.
Pòrtol: ollerias since the end of the 19th century. XVI (Mallorca Magazin 2014) or late XVII (illesbalears.travel); dates to cross (to verify). Maximum around 1900, with about 20 workshops. Can Bernadí has documents from 1806.
yes. XIX: according to Archduke Lluís Salvador (Die Balearen, 1869-1891) and commercial records: potteries in Calvià (1), Campanet (1), Marratxí (6), Pollença (2), Selva (1), Manacor (5) and Felanitx (6), plus 34 tiles. Palma preserves 17 potteries within the walls around 1860; Gerreria Street had workshops until the seventies.
yes. XVIII-XIX: guilds disappear as autonomous entities (Llabrés 1977).
1947: Pere Bennàsar Montserrat founded Ceràmiques Mallorca in Felanitx.
1977: Juan Llabrés describes "the agony" of the industry. Marratxí buys the mill that will be the Fang Museum.
1984-1985: first Fira del Fang (exact date to be verified; the XXXVI was in 2020).
2002: the Fang Museum opens.
2024: 12 olleries and shops in Marratxí, Emblemàtics Balears.

Process step by step

1. Extract the mud from clots (holes). In Pòrtol: red siliceous-ferruginous earth from Ses Coves de Can Guidet, the only one suitable for fire pieces (refractory); white clay from Son Cos/Marratxinet (closed by the Inca highway) and today that of Es Pou des Coll for gerres.

2. Crush and screen in summer; The ground earth is stored for the entire year (Can Vent, photo from 2010).

3. Knead the clay with water.

4. Turning (torn de peu, today also electric). The large gerres are raised in successive layers.

5. Handles, spikes, hand applications.

6. Air dry, in the shade and then in the sun.

7. Glaze the interior (lead glass in olles, greixoneres, llibrells, alfàbies). The brown plat has white engalba on red paste.

8. Cook in forn àrab: one or two superimposed chambers (in Mallorca often a third for smoke), about 2.5 × 2.5 m and 1.5-1.8 m high, with perforated hearths and fumerals that were covered with pots to direct the flame. Fuel: scrubland, pine, olive and wild olive branches, almond shell.

9. Times: 5-6 days to fill the oven; 2-3 days of cooking up to 900-950 °C (Coll Conesa 2020).

10. Repair: staples (lañas) or cordat (wire mesh) to extend the life of olles and greixoneres.

Forms and objects

Greixonera — low refractory clay casserole, with several handles. Variants: rotisserie / fat pot (elongated, for oven), bomber, sa setze, sa catorze, mitja mà, treseta; saïmera (with cutout for butter), amb bec (with spout). The large ones were sold cordades.
Pot — glazed inside, with cover. Named sizes: de setze (10 l), catorze (7 l), perol (5 l), mitja mà (4 l), malaguenya (2 l), treset (1 l), cassolí / biel (0.5 l). Forms: coffee, coll alçat, lletera, flat, colera / castanyera (perforated).
Gerra — pyriform jug with two handles. Someral (large), coll estret or beassa (for beast), coll ample (well and gerrer), private (fertilizer).
Alfàbia, alfabio, alfabieta — oval jar glazed on the inside: brine, meat, oil. Ancolla — the small version of a cupboard.
Cossi (cossi bugader) — large truncated conical tub with a hole for the laundry with ash.
Llibrell / gibrell / ribell — lebrillo; gibrell amb bec for the blood of slaughter.
Escudella — bowl: d'orelles, amb bec, midwife (eight handles), moruna, foc.
Plat — de foc, moreno, strainer, fund, pla, de bollit, d'olives.
Botilla (from pareller, from barca, from reeler), càntir, cadaf (jug), ferrada (milking), fogó (anafre), portable forn (for bread or ensaïmada), lladriola (piggy bank), bird drinker, caduf (sínia canjilón).
Broded Gerreta (Felanitx) and siurell: see olleria-de-felanitx and siurells .

Vocabulary

oller — craftsman who makes olles and fire pieces.
gerrer — craftsman of gerres and pieces for water and pantry.
teuler — who makes tiles and bricks in the teulera.
terrisser — potter in general.
olleria — oller workshop.
workshop - workshop; It is directed by the master.
fadrí — trained officer who continues to work for the master.
mosso — apprentice.
fang — mud.
clot — pit from which clay is extracted.
torn — potter's wheel.
forn àrab — oven with overlapping chambers and vertical draft.
fumeral — furnace chimney.
vidriat — glaze (lead, in tradition).
engalba — clay slip to cover or decorate.
cordat — wire mesh that holds a cracked greixonera.
cover — pot lid.
gerrer (furniture) — support where the water gerres are kept.

Geography

Marratxí (Pòrtol, Sa Cabaneta): living core of the island. Why: unique refractory earth (Can Guidet), nearby white clay, Pla almond shells as fuel and proximity to the Palma market.
Palma: intramural pottery from the Islamic period to the seventies (c/ Gerreria).
Inca: great center in the s. XVI (31 ovens). Sagas: Tortella (Can Piritis), Ca S'Aleix, Can Torrens, Gomila, Can Camella.
Felanitx: white, fine and light clay; brocaded ceramic. See olleria-de-felanitx .
Others: Manacor, Pollença, Campanet, Llucmajor, Consell, Santa Maria, Artà, Lloseta. Itinerant ollers: those from Consell went to the teulera in Sóller and those from Pòrtol to Lluc to turn fire pieces.

Xifres

yes. XIX: 6 potteries in Marratxí and 6 in Felanitx; 34 tiles on the island (Coll Conesa 2020).
Pòrtol around 1900: about 20 workshops. Today: nine olleros in Pòrtol and two in Sa Cabaneta (illesbalears.travel; data date not specified).
2024: 12 Marratxí businesses with Emblemàtics Balears distinctive.
Fang Museum: more than 900 pieces; building purchased in 1977, opened in 2002.
Fira del Fang: 39th edition (2024, 26 artisans), 40th (2025, 28), 41st (March 2026, more than 30 stalls).
Traditional oven: 900-950 °C, 2-3 days of cooking.
Prices: without verified data (to verify in workshops).
It is not BIC or UNESCO.

Why is it design

Form = function tested. The low and domed greixonera distributes the heat of the ember; Multiple handles allow you to move it full; The glazing only inside allows the wall to breathe.
Zero kilometer material. Mud from the same town, fuel from agricultural waste (almond shell), repairable parts (cordat, staples). See disseny-de-proximitat .
Size system. The pots are named by capacity (setze, catorze, mitja mà): a standardization of sizes without a written standard.
Typology without author. Shapes that last centuries because they work; design is collective and cumulative.

Where and who today

Marratxí (12 businesses recognized as Emblemàtics Balears in 2024):

Can Bernadí (Pòrtol, c/ Cals Ollers 5; Elionor Amengual) olleria-can-bernadi
Can Bernadí Nou olleria-can-bernadi
Cas Canonge (Pòrtol, 1981; brothers Bartomeu and Bernat Amengual Reynés) olleria-cas-canonge
Can Vent (family workshop closest to the original lineage) olleria-can-vent
Ceràmica Terra Cuita, Sa Rosa Llisa, Ca Madò Bet dels siurells.
Fang Museum (Sa Cabaneta mill): start of the Fang Route.
Fira del Fang (Sa Cabaneta, early March): the only ceramics-only fair in Mallorca; 39th edition in 2024 with 26 artisans.

Pere Coll, manager of Pòrtol (retired) pere-coll-gerrer
Point of sale in Palma: ceramica-terracuita-palma
Historical sagas of Pòrtol (Coll Conesa 2020): Canyellas (Can Ros), Amengual (Can Vent, Can Bernadí, Sa Penya), Serra (Can Tiet), Seguí (Ca n'Esteva), Vich (Can Vich), Serra Frau (Sa Roca Llisa).

Felanitx: Ceràmiques Mallorca (c/ Sant Agustí 42) ceramiques-mallorca-felanitx . Felanitx Fair (autumn). History and war: olleria-de-felanitx .

State

I live, with a commercial and tourist base. Risk: generational change and competition for imported ceramics.

Contemporary Updates

Roberto Paparcone, Promoció Artesana award (Premis d'Artesania de Mallorca 2023) for a work that reinterprets local tradition. roberto-paparcone
BaleArt Fair presented at Can Bernadí (2025).

For the project

Possible piece: a redesigned greixonera (induction, stackable) made in Pòrtol; or tableware for kilometer zero restoration.
Contact: Elionor Amengual (Can Bernadí), Amengual brothers (Cas Canonge), Museu del Fang.
Open door: Manuel signed the poster for the 41st Fira del Fang (2026, "Sowing art and ceramics"), according to mallorcadiario. Direct contact with the municipal organization.
For the atlas: the catalog of names by size (setze, catorze, mitja mà) is a graphic piece in itself.
Read: Rosselló Bordoy and Coll Tomàs, Ceràmica popular a les Illes Balears (Institut Balear de Disseny, 1997); Llabrés, Popular ceramics in Mallorca (1977); Massot, Mut, Homar, Pòrtol, olleries guide (1989).
Background question: is the shape of the greixonera a "design" without an author? What changes if the kitchen leaves the fire?

Frequently asked questions

What is Mallorcan pottery and gerreria (Pòrtol, Sa Cabaneta, Felanitx)?

Two families:

Who practises Mallorcan pottery and gerreria (Pòrtol, Sa Cabaneta, Felanitx) in Mallorca today?

The Balearic Islands Crafts Register lists 130 artisans linked to this craft, in Palma, Marratxí, Llucmajor, Manacor, Sóller.

What are the traditional words for Mallorcan pottery and gerreria (Pòrtol, Sa Cabaneta, Felanitx)?

Some words: clot, cobertora, cordat, engalba, fadrí, fang, forn àrab, fumeral.

Sources

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

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