Harness: collera, bast and aubarda

> Note: in Mallorca they do not say albarda or aubarda, but rather aubardà (DCVB). The slug remains.

What is

The garniments: the equipment that unites the animal to its work.

• Collera: leather collar filled with straw or horsehair to pull the cart, plow or batre cart (DCVB, includes Palma and Manacor).
• Bast: cargo chair with projecting pommels, to carry weight on the back.
• Aubardà: the Mallorcan rig equivalent to the packsaddle (exact shape: to be verified).

How is

Bast (DCVB):

• Siti / llit: skin base filled with straw or wool, so as not to hurt the animal.
• Arches: made of wood.
• Cingla: wide strap under the belly.
• Pitral: hemp or leather strap in front of the chest; prevents the load from rolling back uphill.
• Tafarra / rabasta: curved piece of wood behind the haunches; prevents it from slipping downhill.

Collar:

• Leather ring filled with straw or horsehair, fastened with two wooden ribs (DCVB, collar).
• Collar (Mall.): two curved sticks articulated, like a compass, around the llaurar coixí (DCVB).
• Skeleton necklace: flat hoop, usually made of lledoner (hackberry), from which hangs the sheep and goat skeleton (Mall.).

How is fa

• Job of the baster / packsaddle: he made packsaddles, saddles, basts and harnesses; documented since the s. XV (Encyclopedia). In Catalonia albarder, corretjaire, baster and garnimenter specialized.
• The Government's Cercador d'artesans maintains the baster category; active workshops in Mallorca: (to verify).
• Materials: leather, straw, horsehair, wool, hemp, wood.

Com s'usa

• Collera: pulling the cart , the plow , the batre cart and the sinia .
• Bast: carry arganells, beaces, sàrries or firewood on your back along mountain paths.

Vocabulary

• guarniments: trappings.
• collera: draft collar.
• coixí de llaurar: neck cushion for plowing.
• bast: cargo chair.
• arçó: wooden pommel.
• cingla: cinch.
• pitral: petral.
• tafarra / rabasta: ataharre.
• aubardà: Mallorcan rig (= packsaddle).
• baster / albarder: craftsman of basts and packsaddles.
• «Esser com els ases d'Artà, que en veure es bast ja suen»: be very vague (Mall.).
• «Treure's es bast a coces»: to get rid of something annoying by force (Mall.).

History

• 1288: "bast whip load" in a document (DCVB).
• 15th century: the profession of saddler/baster already exists (Enciclopèdia).
• 20th century: mechanization sinks the trade; It survives through festivals and horse riding (Catalan data; in Mallorca, to be verified).

On veure'n

• Museum of Mallorca, ethnological section (Wall) .
• Beneïdes de Sant Antoni (harnessed animals).

Why is it design

• Animal ergonomics: soft padding, anchors in front and behind depending on the slope.
• Very precise load distribution, without metal.
• Local and repairable materials: straw, leather, wood.

For the project

• Search the Cercador d'artesans for any active basters in Mallorca.
• Piece: the logic of the bast (pitral + tafarra) applied to a contemporary backpack or carry bag.

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=collera
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=collar
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=bast
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=albarda
• enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/albarder
• caib.es/siciefront/artesania/index.jsp?idioma=ct

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

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