complex botanical-mineral mixture

Ingredients

Gall, Myrtle leaves, Dodder of thyme, Woad leaves, Sugar candy, Henna, Saffron, Soot, Gum Arabic, Vitriol

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Galls broken and mixed with 10 parts water. Myrtle (1g), dodder of thyme (0.5g), woad leaves (1g), sugar candy (0.5g), and henna (1g) are crushed separately and added. Left in sun for several days. Boiled. Filtered and added to a mortar containing soot (2g) and gum Arabic (8g). Vitriol (2g) is added and brayed for one hour (p. 2-3).

Evidence

"To make peacock ink, a process close to the recipe of "Morakkab sazi va jeId sazi" by Ali Hosseini (19th century) was used. ... MyrtIe, henna, woad, dodder of thyme, and saffron are all crushed separately before being added to the bowl. ... Next, the contents of the bowl are boiled. Meanwhile, a mixture of soot and gum Arabic is prepared."

Remarks

Vibrations in Raman have higher intensities compared to pure carbon ink, attributed to polyphenols and iron sulfate (p. 5). In FTIR, hydrolysable tannin vibrations are observed at 760, 780, 1320, 1510, 1205, 1035, 1320, and 1710 cm−1 (p. 6).