brazilwood, sappanwood

Ingredients

brazilwood (Paubrasilia echinata), sappanwood, Fe (II) sulfate heptahydrate, vitriol, gum arabic, water

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Recipe QI.19: 1.0 g of brazilwood rasps in 10 mL water, boiled for 1 hour ('until their properties are released'), filtered. Following recipe proportions ('three parts of sappanwood and one part of vitriol'), 0.33 g of Fe (II) sulfate heptahydrate was added and stirred for 1 hour. Finally, 1 g of powdered gum arabic was added as a binder (p. 12).

Evidence

"QI.19 was also prepared, from an extract obtained from brazilwood, to compare its fingerprint in the Raman spectrum with that obtained from the gallotannins."

Remarks

Spectroscopic analysis of QI.19 shows distinctions from iron-gall inks: a more resolved Raman spectrum, the absence of the band between 1425–1438 cm−1, and a shift towards lower wavenumbers at 1335 and 1553 cm−1 (p. 10). This confirms that iron-gall and iron-brasilein inks can be distinguished analytically (p. 10).