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.[1] 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 comes to commerce in the form of small solid chips, translucent, and having a delicate yellow tinge. Morocco has been 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 in Australia.[2]
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.[3] Copal and other resins displaced it as equally good, less expensive varnishing materials. Nevertheless the sandarac varnish is still valued today for use as a protective coating on paintings and antiques.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6]
Although it is not very strongly aromatic, sandarac resin was and is also used as an 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.[7] In Medieval Latin, the term sandaraca meant red lead as well as red arsenic sulfide.[3] 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.[3][8] The name in Pakistan and India is چندرس and, in Arabic, was and is سندروس sandarūs.[9]
^Article in year 1799-1800: 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.
^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".
^ abcOriginal 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.
^"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 painting technique; and many, many centuries before." Historic Varnishes and Resins @ WilliamsburgArtConservation.com mentions it as a furniture varnish.
^Dictionary of chemicals and raw products used in the manufacture of paints, colours, varnishes and allied preparations, by George H. Hurst (1901)
^Lea, Mathew Carey (1868). A Manual of Photography. Philadelphia: Benerman & Wilson. pp. 286-288. sandarac collodion photo.
^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. Downloadable in English.
^Sandarac in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (year 1914).
^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 AlWaraq.net (in Arabic).
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...
species, Tetraclinis articulata, also known as Thuja articulata, sandarac, sandarac tree or Barbary thuja, endemic to the western Mediterranean region...
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Hayyi Rabbi and Manda d-Hayyi aina (well-spring) sindirka (date palm or sandarac tree) Shishlam Rabba Zlat Yawar Simat Hayyi Yukabar Mana and his counterpart...
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or yellow). As minerals that are old, bright and widespread, realgar (″sandarac″) and orpiment are very often cited as the most famous examples of the...
oil, Strasbourg turpentine mixed with plant resins such as mastic, and sandarac. He is known as the Maker of "The Quartet of Peace", which honors the 4...
white-cedar), Thuja standishii (Japanese thuja), Tetraclinis articulata (Sandarac). Its concentration in the trees are 0.1-0.2% in Chamaecyparis taiwanensis...
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Taxus canadensis Taxus cuspidata, Japanese yew Tetraclinis articulata, sandarac Thuja occidentalis, northern white cedar Thuja plicata, western red-cedar...
Elizabeth / Sandstone Queen Elizabeth Junior/Senior High School — Sandstone (Sandarac Drive) via Sandstone Terminal 793 Queen Elizabeth / Sunnyside Queen Elizabeth...
the Jews and Muslims, not for Christians. He also opposed the burning of sandarac in churches, but allowed only frankincense as incense in worship.: 20–22 ...
be seen in the patent document: 2 parts ethanol, 1 part mastic, 1 part sandarac, 1/16 part camphor. The vibrating parts are pushed by the key mechanism...
white-cedar), Thuja standishii (Japanese thuja), Tetraclinis articulata (Sandarac). Thujaplicins can be produced in plant cell suspension cultures, or can...
Knowlton Miocene Langhian Latah Formation Potlatch Florule USA Idaho A sandarac species Moved to Fokienia praedecurrens (1959) Moved to Fokieniopsis praedecurrens...
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