Fusta d'olivera (olive wood) — Traditional craft of Mallorca

What it is and technique

Olive wood: hard, dense, veined. We work on a lathe (torner) and carve: spoons, mortars, boards, bowls, knife handles, furniture. You have to dry it slowly so that it doesn't crack.

Short story

UIB Study (Garí Bibiloni and Morey Tous, 2019): in Mallorca, and especially in Manacor, olive wood became a souvenir industry with mass tourism. Its golden age did not exceed the 80s, when cheap imitations arrived, partly made of plastic and manufactured in China.

Chronology:

Before tourism: the olive tree gives handles, tools, mortars and household parts; The wood comes from dead trees or heavy pruning.
60s-70s: with mass tourism, Manacor turns the olive tree into a souvenir industry.
80s: end of the golden age; cheap imitations (other woods, plastic, China).
2019: study by Garí Bibiloni and Morey Tous (UIB).

Where and who today

Family workshops in Manacor and Inca, between traditional and contemporary pieces (directory).
Ganivets Campins (Consell) uses olive trees for handles and sells utensils. See ganiveteria .
Category "whip turner" in the Government's Cercador d'artesans.

State

Alive but displaced by importation. Doubtful: how much olive tree sold as Mallorcan comes from the island.

Contemporary Updates

Pending: designers using wood from pruned or dead Mallorcan olive trees (great opportunity for local material).

Process step by step

1. Obtain wood: dead olive trees, uprooted or thickly pruned. Never healthy tree.

2. Cut into blocks and seal the heads so that they do not split.

3. Slow drying: in the shade, from months to years depending on thickness (check times).

4. Roughing with saw and axe.

5. Turning (bowls, mortars, salt shakers) or carving (spoons, trowels).

6. Sand fine: the grain comes out with polishing.

7. Finish with olive oil or food oil.

Forms and objects

Morter i maça (mortar and pestle).
Culleres, pallets, kitchen forks.
Carving and pa amb oli posts.
Bols, plats, salers.
Knife and tool mannequins.
Root pieces (soca) for sculpture or table.

Vocabulary

olivera: wild olive tree.
soca: stump and base of the trunk.
arrel: root.
veta: drawing of the fiber.
torner: lathe.
gúbia: gouge.
desbastar: removing thick material.
esberlar-se: splitting the wood.
assecar: dry.
cor: heartwood, dark part.

Geography

Manacor: center of the olive tree souvenir industry.
Tramuntana and Raiguer: ancient olive groves, wooden fountain.
The Mallorcan olive tree is slow and twisted: very dense and veined wood.

Xifres

Golden age: until the 80s.
16 fusters on the Manacor board; none confirmed as olive turner. Example: Miquel Duran Fusteria (Manacor, c/ sa Cabana 13; almost 40 years; carpentry and furniture).
There is no information on how much olive tree sold as Mallorcan is from the island (to verify).

Why is it design

Discard material: dead tree or pruning object of use.
Antibacterial and dense: good for kitchen (per verify studies).
Traceability possible: each piece can bear the name of its olive grove.
See torners and proximitat design .

For the project

Possible piece: traceability "from this olive tree to this spoon"; collection with pruning of specific olive groves and a Manacor turner.
Contact: authors of the UIB study; turners of the Cercador d'artesans.
Background question: the olive tree went from tree to souvenir: how is its material dignity restored?

Frequently asked questions

What is Fusta d'olivera (olive wood)?

Olive wood: hard, dense, veined. We work on a lathe (torner) and carve: spoons, mortars, boards, bowls, knife handles, furniture. You have to dry it slowly…

What are the traditional words for Fusta d'olivera (olive wood)?

Some words: arrel, assecar, cor, desbastar, esberlar-se, gúbia, olivera, soca.

Sources

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

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