iron gall ink (non-vitriolic)
Kenya
21th Century
Source: Colini, Claudia. “I tried it and it is really good”: Replicating Recipes of Arabic Black Inks. In: Manuscript Cultures, 2021.
Recipe Details
Ingredients
mangrove bark, lemon juice, rusty iron filings
Preparation Steps
The ink is made by combining mangrove bark (as a tannin source), lemon juice (as an acid source), and rusty iron filings or nails. The acidic environment from the lemon juice acts to produce iron (II) ions (Fe2+) without binding iron prematurely, resulting in a better stoichiometric relation between iron and tannins (p. 147-148).
Original Recipe Text
The ink is made by combining mangrove bark (as a tannin source), lemon juice (as an acid source), and rusty iron filings or nails. The acidic environment from the lemon juice acts to produce iron (II) ions (Fe2+) without binding iron prematurely, resulting in a better stoichiometric relation between iron and tannins (p. 147-148).
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."
Remarks
XRF analysis of these reproduced Kenyan samples provided results comparable to those observed on ancient manuscripts, validating the hypothesis of non-vitriolic iron gall ink production (p. 148).
Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
XRF
replication
X-Ray Fluorescence
Certainty Level
Confirmed
Instrumentally Verified
Verified
Metadata
Material Type
ink
Colordarker colour after ageing
RegionKenya
Approx. Year2050
Source Information
AuthorColini, Claudia. “I tried it and it is really good”: Replicating Recipes of Arabic Black Inks. In: Manuscript Cultures, 2021.
CollectionContemporary Kenya (collected by Ahmed Parkar)
Language
N/A
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