SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, May 15. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, has initiated the file for the declaration of Intangible Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), in the Canary Islands, the craft technique of the rosette, a practice that has been maintained on the islands of Tenerife and Lanzarote, given the cultural, craft, social and economic importance that this practice had.
The studies carried out indicate that the protection of this craft technique should be at the regional level because it is the same in all the parts where it has been developed, and that to this day it continues to be maintained in Lanzarote and Tenerife since its inception.
Not only do they have the same technique in common but also the way of distributing the raw material, the selection of motifs or the collection once the product is finished, collects a note from the Executive.
On both islands, this textile craft is known as rosettes or roses and it was always a type of family lace that was transmitted from one generation to another and that allowed its work without leaving the family bosom.
Thus, it was a work carried out by women of humble condition, almost always in rural areas, who thanks to these jobs could complement their precarious economy.
Because it does not require having a large space for its development or special machinery, except for needles and thread, they were made at home, in the evening, once the household or field tasks were finished.
Sometimes several women would meet in the patios of the houses and take advantage of the occasion to talk about what was happening around them, but when night fell they used the oil lamp and continued working to finish the orders received on time.
The artisans were specialized in simple models and the owner of the workshop was the specialist in making other more complicated rosettes and the work of bartacking or joining to form the cloths.
“The curious thing”, the Government emphasizes, is that the number of rosette workers was difficult to calculate because in the censuses at the time they were considered housewives or their jobs and this work did not appear, but the marketing companies did count them in their account books, where the name of the craftswoman and her specialty appear.
HOW TO CHARGE
At a general level, there were two ways of receiving payment for the work, either the intermediary did it, people who brought threads and patterns and collected the finished product, or through the village shops, known as oil and vinegar shops, where the artisans They took their product in exchange for food or other necessities and then it was from there that the companies were taken.
In the correspondence consulted from the most important exporters in Lanzarote, it has also been possible to verify that they were not always known by the name of rosettes, since they are also called laborers or laborers.
If attention is paid to the technique, it is observed that there are no differences between islands, although to name the base, in Lanzarote the pike has a round or square metal base, with the holes where the pins are inserted following the shape of the piece. desired which is then placed on top of the sand-filled ball.
In Tenerife, on the other hand, the pique is the entire base and the upper part where the holes are made for the pins is made of leather or scay. As for the reasons, they are usually similar, although their name changes between islands but also between the towns of the islands where the practice is carried out.
