Siurell

What is

White clay figurine with red and green stripes that has a whistle at the base. Toy, party object and today a graphic icon of Mallorca. The trade (workshops, lineages, history) is in siurells ; here, the object.

How is

• Size: 7-15 cm.
• Parts: hand-modelled figure, base (base) of the same clay, whistle (whistle) with a hole for blowing and another for exit.
• Finish: lime bath (matte white) and cold brushstrokes of reddish (red) and copper green; sometimes blue or ocher.
• Canonical figures: pagès, pagesa, dimoni; then genet, bou, cavallet, gall, belen, and the news of each era (cyclist, Vespa, airplane).
• Geometry: cylindrical bodies, handle arms, horns and exaggerated hats; The figure can be read from the front and in profile.

How is fa

Modeling without a lathe or mold, whitewashing holding the piece by the nozzle, painting with a brush. Step by step process in siurells . Today often with plastic paint instead of lime.

Com s'usa

• Gesture: hold by the base and blow through the whistle, at the base or at the tail. A single high tone.
• Humble children's toy; It was played at parties, pilgrimages and Corpus Christi. It was attributed power against the north wind.
• It is bought at fairs and pilgrimages: Sant Marçal (June 30), Sa Cabaneta.
• Today: shelf item, souvenir, graphic motif.

Vocabulary

• siurell: whistle-clay figure; from siular, to whistle.
• xiulell / xiurell / siulet: variants depending on the area.
• pito: the part that sounds.
• peana: clay base.
• siurellera: woman who models them.
• encalar: bathe in lime.
• Siurellada: Sa Cabaneta parade with people dressed as siurell.

History

• Before the s. XVIII: Minoan, Punic or Arab hypothesis, without proof.
• H.H. XVIII-XIX: cautious reading: local adaptation of a foreign whistle (Coll Conesa, 2020).

-c . 1950: Madò Bet models in Sa Cabaneta; origin of Ca Madò Bet.

• 20th century: Joan Miró admires the siurells; His influence is visible in his work.
• 2024: Inca preserves a single siurellera (Jornades d'Estudis Locals d'Inca).

On veure'n

• Fang Museum (Marratxí) : Siurelleria section.
• Fira del Fang (Marratxí) .
• Workshops: Ca Madò Bet dels siurells (Sa Cabaneta), Francisca Truyol (Inca).

Why is it design

• Multifunction object with a handful of clay: toy, instrument and figure.
• Closed graphic code: white, red and green background, stripes and dots. Recognizable from a distance.
• Open template: supports current events without losing identity.
• Kilometer zero: mud, lime and oven from the same town.

For the project

• Piece: current siurells of 2026 (what figures a siurellera would make today) with Ca Madò Bet.
• Guide to using the siurell code for designers (homage vs. appropriation); See the underlying question in the job file .

Sources

• ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siurell
• mallorca.com/es/guia/lugares-de-interes/museu-del-fang
• ibdigital.uib.es/greenstone/library/collection/jornadesEstudisLocalsInca/documen

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

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