Garbell, porgador and sedàs (sieves)

What is

Three sieves, from coarsest to finest:

• Garbell: hoop with a perforated bottom that separates things of different sizes (grain and brush; gravel and earth).
• Porgador: narrow mesh garbell to clean the grain and remove dust (DCVB, includes Mall.). In Mallorca, also the wooden frame with reeds or wire that the case masters use to sift gravel, lime and cement.
• Sedàs: bristle or silk cloth mounted on a wooden hoop to sift flour, plaster or earth.

How is

• Garbell: circular shape with solid riscla (hoop). Bottom of leather, espart or reeds; today wire mesh (DCVB).
• Construction carrier (Mall.): rectangular wooden frame with reeds or wire (measurements: to be verified).
• Sedàs: fine wood hoop and very tight fabric.

How is fa

• The hoop is curved in wood (cercolero technique: check in Mallorca).
• Perforated leather, espart or woven jonc bottom. See espart i cistellería .
• Specific job of garbeller in Mallorca: not documented in the sources consulted (to verify in the Cercador d'artesans of the Government).

Com s'usa

• In the threshing floor, after the batre and window: garbell to remove brush, porgador for the dust.
• At home: the sedàs sifts the flour before kneading. See pastera and forn shovel .
• On site: loader for gravel and lime. See calciners and calç forns .
• Gesture: circular swing with both hands; the large garbell dangled and swung.

Vocabulary

• garbell — sieve.
• garbellar — sieve.
• riscla — ring or edge of the garbell.
• porgar — clean the grain of dust.
• porgado — fine sieve; In Mallorca it also screens construction work.
• porgueres — what remains after the porgar.
• sedàs — sieve.
• cerndre — sift the flour.
• garbell (Mall.) — in brick ovens, the perforated vault between the fire and the piece being fired (DCVB).

History

• 13th century: Llull already mentions sedaç with fire, firewood and flour (Blanquerna).
• 1490: "a porgar lenties porgar" (Vic).
• 1493: inventory with three silks: bristle and silk (BSAL).
• 20th century: metal fabric replaces leather and espart; The combines eliminate the threshing floor.

On veure'n

• Museum of Mallorca, ethnological section (Wall) .
• Old bakeries, possessió eras.

Why is it design

• A graduated family of tools: from garbell to sedàs, each mesh for a size.
• Same principle, two worlds: food (flour) and construction (lime, gravel).
• Materials at hand: leather, espart, reed, wood.

For the project

• Graphic piece: “Mallorca tights”, from the leather garbell to the silk sedàs, with macro photos.
• Object: espart or reed garbell as a lamp/shade (filtered light).

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=garbell
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=porgador
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=sed%E0s

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

Open it in the atlas →