What is
- Hatchet: axe. Wide steel iron blade, almost trapezoidal, with a more or less curved edge; the handle follows the same plane as the blade (DCVB).
- Picassó: in Mallorca, large hammer (smaller than the picassa) with the iron pointed on one side and a pyramid trunk on the other, to break stone (DCVB, Mall. meaning). In Rosselló and Cerdanya, however, Picassó is a small axe.
How is
- Hatchet: blade, ull, long wooden handle. Sizes: one-handed (small) to two-handed (large).
- Picassó: heavy iron head with two different faces: point (breaking) and flat pyramidal face (hitting, squaring). Wooden handle.
How is fa
- Ferrer forging, tempered edge. See ferro forjat , enclusa i manxa .
- Today: Eines Mallorquines (Sineu) hatchet forge and stonecutter and marger hammers (if the Picassó with this name: please verify).
Com s'usa
- Hatchet: cutting firewood and branches, charcoaling and calcining. See carboners i sitges , calciners . Also from the fuster road.
- Picassó: breaking and grinding stone; open paths in the rock ("un caminoy estret ubert amb picassó dins sa muntanya", L'Ignorància). Stone tool in dry and marès and stonecutters .
Vocabulary
- destral: axe.
- destral de mà: small one-handed axe.
- ull: eye of the handle.
- picassa: hammer/axe larger than the picassó.
- picassó: hammer for breaking stone (Mall.).
- «Esser fet amb sa destral grossa i manejada d'es manobres»: be very coarse (Mall.).
- «Un cop de destral no fa caure un roure»: what is important requires constant effort.
History
- 901: "destrale" in a document from the Archive of the Crown of Aragó (DCVB, sv aixada).
- 13th century: Llull: the ax is made to fell trees (Llibre de l'orde de cavalleria).
- 19th century: Picassó opens mountain paths in Mallorca (L'Ignorància).
- 1926 today: the Sineu forge continues making stone hatchets and hammers.
On veure'n
- Museum of Mallorca, ethnological section (Wall) .
- Margers schools: Escola de margers (Gremi) , Escola de margers de Raixa .
Why is it design
- Two faces, two gestures: Picassó breaks with the point and squares with the pyramid.
- Blade shape depending on the wood: the hatchet changes size depending on firewood, carpentry or felling.
- Long life tool: resharpen and change the handle.
For the project
- With eines de marger and eines de stonecutter : "dry stone kit" documented in Sineu and in the Escola de margers.
- Open workshop: how a Picassó is forged.
Frequently asked questions
What is Destral i picassó?
- Hatchet: axe. Wide steel iron blade, almost trapezoidal, with a more or less curved edge; the handle follows the same plane as the blade (DCVB).
What are the traditional words for Destral i picassó?
Some words: destral, destral de mà, picassa, picassó, ull, «Esser fet amb sa destral grossa i manejada d'es manobres», «Un cop de destral no fa caure un roure».
Sources
Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.