Product Details:
100 g bag (3.5 oz)
Brazilwood is a common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye (called brazilin). Portuguese explorers used this name for a similar South American tree (Caesalpinia echinata and C. brasiliensis), from which the name Brazil for its native country is derived. Brazilwood (Caesalpinia echinata) is also known as Pernambuco.
| Common Names (Dyestuff): |
brazil, brazilin, brazilwood, Caesalpinia brasiliensis, Caesalpinia echinata, Caesalpinia sappan, fernambuco, pernambuco, sappanwood |
Origin and History
European records of the red dye during the Middle Ages came primarily from the heartwood of an Asian tree called sappanwood (
Caesalpinia sappan). Sappanwood is native to India, Malaya and Sri Lanka, and is cultivated throughout the Asian tropics. The wood was imported into Europe since medieval times, but only in limited quantities. The dye was a beautiful red, the color of burning coals (in Old French and English "braise") and was called
bresil or
brasil by the early Portuguese traders. In 1500, Portuguese ships discovered and claimed the Atlantic side of South America that straddled the equator and the tropic of Capricorn. This massive land was called "Terra de Brasil" and later Brazil, because of the dyewood trees (
Caesalpinia echinata) that grew there in abundance. Like the closely related sappanwood, the valuable dye from brazilwood (called
brazilin) became a popular coloring agent for dyeing cotton and wool cloth and to make red ink.
Source
Brazilwood is a common name for several trees of the family
Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. During the Middle Ages the name was given to the red dye that came primarily from the heartwood of an Asian tree called sappanwood (
Caesalpinia sappan). Later this name was used for a similar South American tree (
Caesalpinia echinata and
C. brasiliensis). The heartwood of this species yields a red dye (called
brazilin) that is very similar to logwood. The yellow flowers have five spreading petals (typical of the subfamily
Caesalpinioideae), unlike the pealike blossoms of most other legumes in the large subfamily
Papilionoideae. According to Gettens and Stout, pernambuco wood (
Caesalpinia crista) from Jamaica and also from Brazil has about twice a much coloring matter [Painting Materials, p. 99].
Preparation of Lake Pigment
Pigments and dyes are not identical, although there are cases in which the same coloring matter which yields a dye or stain may give rise to a pigment. A pigment is, in fact, a substance which is insoluble in the vehicle with which it is mixed to make a paint, while a dye is soluble. A lake pigment is a natural organic pigment prepared when a dye has been precipitated on a powdered, colorless, inorganic substrate. The term derives from the Latin word
lacca, used in the Middle Ages to denote both lake pigments and the Lac dye. Because of its transparency, aluminum hydroxide is the most commonly used substrate or carrier. Barites, such as barium sulfate, provide an opaque lake pigment. Other compounds used as carriers are: chalk, clay, gypsum, tin oxide, zinc oxide, white earth, and green earth. Often a mordant, such as tannic acid, lactic acid, or sodium phosphate, is used to fix the dye to the substrate.
When the brownish sawdust of brazilwood is wet it turns reddish. When steeped in a solution of lye it colors the liquid deep, purplish red, and hot solutions of alum extract the color from the wood in the form of an orange-red liquor. Most medieval brazil lakes were made either from the extract made with lye (a weak solution of potassium carbonate) or made with alum, as these solutions get the color out of the wood more thoroughly than plain water. Just what the shade is that is extracted depends on how acid or alkaline the mixture of solutions is made. The more alum, the warmer the color, the more lye: the colder the red. The precipitate is collected by settling and pouring off the liquid. The pasty mass is smeared on an absorbent surface such as a new brick or tile to dry. Then it is ground, and has the same degree of transparency as the alumina of which it is chiefly composed. When chalk is added to the alum, a more opaque pink rose is produced by the resulting admixture of calcium sulfate to the alumina lake. When white lead was used, it had no other effect than to give substance to the lake and slightly less transparency, rather than to make it opaque. When marble dust and powdered egg shells were added to newly formed lakes, they further controlled the color produced by reacting chemically with any excess of alum which might give a brown cast instead of rose. In all these cases the brazil color was mordanted upon the white material, so to speak, dyed with the brazil, and the pigment so formed was different from a mixture of a finished lake with a white pigment.
Permanence and Compatibility
Lake pigments made from brazilwood are not considered to be permanent, lightfast colors. The lakes are insoluble in water and in alcohol but are partially soluble in alkalis, giving them a brownish red color. Mineral acids decompose them with a bright yellow to orange-red solution. They are not stable in strong light.
Oil Absorption and Grinding
No data has been published on the oil absorption and grinding qualities of lake pigments made from brazilwood.
Toxicity
The essential coloring matter of the brazilwood is considered to be non-toxic.
Pigment: Brazilwood Sawdust
| Color: |
Red |
| Colour Index: |
Natural Red 24 (75280) |
| Chemical Name: |
Brazilin (leuco form), Brazilein (oxidized form) |
| Chemical Name: |
C16H14O5, C16H12O5 |
| ASTM Lightfastness Rating |
| Acrylic: |
Not Rated |
| Oil: |
Not Rated |
| Watercolor: |
Not Rated |
| Properties |
| Density: |
– |
| Hardness: |
– |
| Refractive Index: |
– |
Read cautions about handling pigments
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.
