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Traditional Mallorcan object

Escriptori and arquella (writing desk and casket)

At a glance

- Escriptori: furniture with small drawers to store papers and valuables, with lid or doors; often on a table or stand. The DCVB gives pronunciation of Palma.

Objects and tools
Traditional Mallorcan object
Words
arquilla, calaixet, escaparate, escriptori, vidres pintats
Events
2
desk
desk — Museum of Menorca, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/, Museum of Menorca (vía Europeana/CER.ES)

What is

  • Escriptori: furniture with small drawers to store papers and valuables, with lid or doors; often on a table or stand. The DCVB gives pronunciation of Palma.
  • Arquilla: chest or small desk. In Can Vivot there are arches with painted glass (AEM 2022).
  • Showcase: without Majorcan fountain; The period word is showcase (glass urn), see canterano .

How is

  • Box with many calaixets (little drawers) behind a folding lid that is used for writing, or with two doors.
  • Walnut, ebony, bone, ivory; Painted glass in the Majorcan arches.
  • «Scriptori de noguer de tres peses… a tall de Barcelona» (1614, Catalan inventory).
  • Measurements: to be verified.

How is fa

  • Ebenista: veneer, inlay, inlay; iron or bronze fittings.
  • Glass painted by painter (per verify workshop).

Com s'usa

  • In the chamber or office: money, jewelry, writings.
  • Prestige piece on display.

Vocabulary

  • escriptori: desk-chest of drawers.
  • calaixet: little drawer.
  • arquilla: chest, small desk.
  • vidres pintats: painted glass.
  • escaparate: glass urn.

History

  • 1373: «In the chamber a scriptori» (DCVB).
  • 1614: walnut writing table “a tall from Barcelona” (Inv. Bertran, DCVB).
  • 17th century: Mallorcan writers cited in a sample from the Maricel Museum, Sitges (to be verified).
  • 17th-18th centuries: arches with painted glass in Can Vivot.

On veure'n

  • Can Vivot (Palma): arches with painted glass.
  • Museum of Mallorca (Palma), Museu Diocesà, Fundació Bartolomé March (to be verified).

Why is it design

  • Box of boxes: interior order for the small and valuable.
  • Trade showcase: the surface shows what the workshop knows how to do.

For the project

Frequently asked questions

What is Escriptori and arquella (writing desk and casket)?

- Escriptori: furniture with small drawers to store papers and valuables, with lid or doors; often on a table or stand. The DCVB gives pronunciation of Palma.

What are the traditional words for Escriptori and arquella (writing desk and casket)?

Some words: arquilla, calaixet, escaparate, escriptori, vidres pintats.

Sources

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

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