iron (II) gallate complex

Ingredients

mangrove bark, lemon juice, rusty iron filings

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Mangrove bark (or wood) is soaked in water and boiled with iron pieces (rusty nails or filings). Lemon juice is added as an acid source to soak the iron before mixing with tannins or after boiling the plants and filings (p. 147).

Evidence

"Ahmed Parkar collected a recipe from Kenya made with mangrove wood, lemon juice and rusty nails, which was reproduced during the course of this study... The results obtained by XRF analysis of the samples made with the reproduced inks are comparable to those observed on manuscripts."

Remarks

This recipe represents a 'non-vitriolic' iron gall ink typology where iron filings or nails replace the more common vitriol. The addition of acid (lemon juice) serves to produce iron (II) ions without binding iron immediately, resulting in a better stoichiometric relation and a darker color after aging compared to recipes without acid (p. 148). This typology matches XRF profiles from 7th-10th century Coptic manuscripts where copper and zinc are absent (p. 146).