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Sandarac

Resin obtained from the Tetraclinis articulata tree used to make varnish and incense

Sandarac

Resin obtained from the Tetraclinis articulata tree used to make varnish and incense

Sandarac tears

Sandarac (or sandarach) is a resin obtained from the small cypress-like tree Tetraclinis articulata. The tree is native to the northwest of Africa with a notable presence in the Southern Morocco part of the Atlas Mountains. The resin exudes naturally on the stems of the tree. It is also obtained by making cuts on the bark. It solidifies when exposed to the air. It is sold in the form of small solid translucent chips with a delicate yellow tinge. Morocco is the main place of origin of sandarac. A similar resin is obtained in southern Australia from some species of the Australian cypress-like trees Callitris, but the resin has not been systematically collected.

Historically, especially in the Late Medieval and Renaissance era, sandarac was used to make varnish. When "varnish" was spoken of in Renaissance Italy (Italian vernice) it usually meant sandarac. It gives a coat which is hard, lustrous and durable. The varnish is made by melting the resin and mixing it with (e.g.) linseed oil. Sandarac resin melts at about 150°C to a colourless or slightly yellow liquid. Its specific gravity is about 1.04.

In mid- to late-19th century photography a varnish was applied as a preservative to photographic negatives and positives. Sandarac resin was preferred by some photographers for this purpose.

Although it is not very strongly aromatic, sandarac resin was and is also used as incense. The aroma has been compared to balsam.

Besides the resin and the varnish, the word sandarac may refer to the tree that produces the resin. Entirely separately from that, the ancient Greeks and Romans used the word sandarac to refer to arsenic sulfide particularly red arsenic sulfide. In Medieval Latin, the term sandaraca meant red lead as well as red arsenic sulfide. The word's resin/varnish meaning came to Europe from Arabic in the early 16th century. To distinguish this meaning from the Greek and medieval Latin meaning, it was occasionally called "Arabian sandarac" or "sandaracha Arabum" in Neo-Latin writings. The name in Pakistan and India is چندرس and, in Arabic, was and is سندروس sandarūs.

In Mandaeism

In Mandaean texts, the Mandaic term sindirka, which is typically translated as 'date palm' by E. S. Drower and others, is instead identified by Carlos Gelbert (2023) as a cognate of sandarac and thus with Tetraclinis articulata.

References

References

  1. Article in year 1799-1800: [https://archive.org/details/s2id13415760/page/239/mode/1up ''On the real origin of that resin known under the name of Sandarac''], by M. Schousboe, in journal ''Philosophical Magazine'' Volume 5, on pages 239-242. Mr Schousboe had a lengthy stay at the seaport of [[Mogador]] and its hinterland in southern Morocco in the late 1790s. He saw the sandarac being collected on trees there, and he reports his observations.
  2. [https://archive.org/details/analysisofresins00dietuoft ''Analysis of Resins, Balsams and Gum-Resins''], by Karl Dieterich (1920), Chapter II, Section 34. Dieterich states he heard a report "that [[Mogador]] (i.e. African) sandarach is better and purer than Australian. This may be the reason why the latter has not been more utilised." But Dieterich's own chemical analysis leads him to conclude that "great similarity exists between the two kinds".
  3. [[Copal]] and other resins displaced it as equally good and less expensive varnishing materials. Nevertheless sandarac varnish is still valued today for use as a protective coating on paintings and antiques.[http://www.jamescgroves.com/sandaracgelvarnish.htm "Notes on Historical Oil Painting Varnishes"], by James C. Groves: "Sandarac oil varnish [mixed with walnut oil] was the so-called “vernis liquida” [liquid varnish] of the Italian Renaissance-era [[tempera]] and [[oil paint. oil]] painting technique; and many, many centuries before." [http://www.williamsburgartconservation.com/historic-varnishes-and-resi.html ''Historic Varnishes and Resins'' @ WilliamsburgArtConservation.com] mentions it as a furniture varnish.
  4. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofchem00hursrich/ ''Dictionary of chemicals and raw products used in the manufacture of paints, colours, varnishes and allied preparations''], by George H. Hurst (1901)
  5. (1868). "A Manual of Photography". Benerman & Wilson.
  6. For example [[Dioscorides]] writing in Greek in the 1st century A.D. said: "Arsenicum is found in the same mines as sandaracha.... Sandarac is most highly valued which is fully red... looking like cinnabar in colour, and also having a sulphurous smell. It has the same properties and method of roasting as arsenicum." -- Dioscorides' ''Materia Medica'', Book 5. [http://www.cancerlynx.com/BOOKFIVEWINES.PDF Downloadable in English].
  7. [https://archive.org/details/originaltreatis00merrgoog/ ''Original Treatises, Dating from the XIIth to the XVIIIth Centuries, on the Arts of Painting, Volume I''], by M.P. Merrifield (1849), including pages ccliii and cclxvi.
  8. ''Sandarūs'' was a resin is in medieval Arabic writers including Ibn Sina (died 1037) and Ibn al-Baitar (died 1248); see سندروس in medieval Arabic texts at [http://www.alwaraq.net/Core/SearchServlet/searchall?book=-1&option=1&offset=1&searchtext=2LPZhtiv2LHZiNiz&WordForm=1&RangeOp=-1 AlWaraq.net] (in Arabic).
  9. Gelbert, Carlos. (2023). "The Key to All the Mysteries of Ginza Rba". Living Water Books.
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