Club for pounding esparto grass

This late 19th-century esparto mace is made of solid olive wood. It is an original ethnological tool, traditionally used in rural settings to crush and soften esparto fibers or as a giant pestle. It was handcrafted and hand-turned, a technique that involves continuously rotating the wooden piece with a lathe activated by a crank or foot, while shaping it with gouges and chisels. The satin finish is the result of the natural oxidation of the wood and the gentle rubbing of hands and work with the raw esparto itself. Olive wood is one of the noblest, densest, and most resistant woods in the Iberian Peninsula. Its hardness explains why, after more than a century, it shows hardly any wear from impacts and has also resisted the attack of woodworm (which prefers softer and lighter woods, such as pine).

The presence of these pieces was common in alquerías, a farmhouse with an agricultural estate, typical of the Peninsular Levante (Valencian Community and Murcia). Although this tool was popular between the late 19th century and the mid-20th century, from the 1960s onwards, with the massive arrival of synthetic fibers and plastic, esparto production drastically declined, at which point this tool was discarded from many homes.