What is
The cossi is the large container with a hole at the bottom where the bugada was made: the bleaching of clothing with a lleixiu of ash and boiling water, after washing it with soap. In Majorcan houses the cossi bugader used to be built into a stool or in a corner of the kitchen.
How is
- Cossi: inverted truncated conical tub, made of clay (also made of wood or metal), with a forat at the bottom (DCVB; Coll Conesa 2020).
- Embedded in a work bench or on the wall, next to the stove and the water alfàbies (photos by Binissalem and drawing by Sencelles, Coll Conesa 2020).
- Cendrer: thick cloth spread over the cossi with the ash on top. In Mallorca and Ibiza, also a thick bag full of ash that is put inside the cossi, between the clothes (DCVB).
- Measurements: to verify with pieces from the Muro Museum.
How is fa
- It was turned by the gerrers (not the ollers): potters from Consell went to Sa Teulera de Sóller to make gerres, gibrells and cossis with the clay from the tile (Coll Conesa 2020).
- Glazed inside (to verify).
- The workbench that supports it, the work of a stonecutter.
Com s'usa
General process of the ash bugada (Catalan heritage sheet; Mallorcan nuances to verify):
1. Wash clothes with soap first (in the washing machine or fountain).
2. Place the clothes in the cossi, with the white ones on the bottom.
3. Lay out the cinder and add the clean, cold ash.
4. Pour boiling water little by little: it goes through the ash, becomes lleixiu and goes through the clothes.
5. Collect the liquid through the hole below, reheat it in the boiler and pour it back.
6. The next day, rinse and hang in the sun.
- The ash came from the stove and the oven: nothing was thrown away.
Vocabulary
- cossi: laundry tub, with a hole at the bottom.
- cossi bugader: the cossi of the bugada.
- bugada: strained with ash lye.
- lleixiu: water with alkaline salts taken from ash.
- cendrer: cloth or bag with ashes.
- ball de cossis: ancient Mallorcan popular dance of men alone (DCVB, doc. 1629).
- veu de cossi: cascaded voice (Mall.).
- posar es cossi dins s'aumut: putting things out of place; misunderstand (Manacor).
- anar amb so cul en es cossi: always go with misery (Manacor).
- sa bugada de Na Xesca, si no és calenta ja és fresca: saying for a poorly done cleaning (Mall.).
History
- 1388: "Unum cossi cum suo scanno" (a cossi with his bench), document from the Bulletin of the Societat Arqueològica Lul·liana (DCVB).
- 1395: "senra per fer bugada to theft from home", document from the BSAL (DCVB).
- 1629: «un joch de ball de cossis of 8 minyons» (DCVB).
- 1852: Gaspar Monroig draws the built-in cossi bugader in the kitchen of the Sencelles convent (Coll Conesa 2020).
- Around 1891: the Archduke draws cossis among Majorcan ceramics.
- 1920-1940: Josep Pons i Frau photographs the bugada in the cossi (Coll Conesa 2020).
- Second half of the 20th century: the washing machine and industrial bleach put an end to bugada.
On veure'n
- Museum of Mallorca, Etnològica Section (Wall) : recreated kitchen.
- Fang Museum (Sa Cabaneta) .
- Old houses and possessions with bugaderia (Binissalem, photographed example; see casa-de-possessio ).
- Photography: Arxiu del So i de la Imatge de Mallorca (funds to be verified).
Why is it design
- Circular economy: the ash from the fire becomes detergent.
- Gravity and heat: a hole below and hot water above; neither pump nor machine.
- Built-in furniture: the built-in cossi is part of the kitchen architecture.
- Collective ritual: the bugada organized the domestic calendar and help between neighbors.
For the project
- Atlas: reconstruct a complete bugada with an old cossi and an older person who made it (audiovisual record).
- Design: ash detergent or cossi-inspired energy-efficient washing piece.
- Trades: ceramics-i-gerrería · sabo-artesa . Files: safareig , ribella , alfabia-gerra-i-gerrico , foganya-i-estris-del-foc .
Frequently asked questions
What is Cossi i bugada?
The cossi is the large container with a hole at the bottom where the bugada was made: the bleaching of clothing with a lleixiu of ash and boiling water…
What are the traditional words for Cossi i bugada?
Some words: anar amb so cul en es cossi, ball de cossis, bugada, cendrer, cossi, cossi bugader, lleixiu, posar es cossi dins s'aumut.
Sources
- dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=cossi
- dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=bugada
- dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=cendrer
- dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=lleixiu
- contents.idi.es/images/documents/Catalogo_XII_Jornadas_Baleares_20.pdf
- ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossi
- patrimonicultural.diba.cat/print/pdf/node/67545
Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.