Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 8th July 2022, 12:08 AM

Ren Ren,
Thanks for the info.I never thought about it.
As to the source of red pigment, I went to Wiki.
Apparently, 16th century visitors to S. America allegedly gave it name Paubrasilia., i.e. “ reddish wood” in Portugese. It became a valuable commodity as a source of red pigment brasilin and as a favourite material for violin bows. It became so profitable and popular, that the entire place in S. America became to be popularly known as Terra do Brasil, Land of Brasil. And that stuck: the entire country became known as Brazil. Fascinating story: the biggest country in S.America got its name from an exotic tree!
Of course, Russian manufacturers of tanned leather did not get the dye directly from Brazil: the dye was exported first to Portugal and from there sold to other European countries. Russians might have imported it from Germany, Poland, somewhere closer to home.

One would immediately think that the varnish used by Stradivari for his red violins employed brasilin as a vital component. Just a little bit closer, but still no cigar.
He used cochilin, a red pigment from the bodies of cactus-eating female bugs from tropical and subtropical America.

8th July 2022, 12:08 AM	#8
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Ren Ren, Thanks for the info.I never thought about it. As to the source of red pigment, I went to Wiki. Apparently, 16th century visitors to S. America allegedly gave it name Paubrasilia., i.e. “ reddish wood” in Portugese. It became a valuable commodity as a source of red pigment brasilin and as a favourite material for violin bows. It became so profitable and popular, that the entire place in S. America became to be popularly known as Terra do Brasil, Land of Brasil. And that stuck: the entire country became known as Brazil. Fascinating story: the biggest country in S.America got its name from an exotic tree! Of course, Russian manufacturers of tanned leather did not get the dye directly from Brazil: the dye was exported first to Portugal and from there sold to other European countries. Russians might have imported it from Germany, Poland, somewhere closer to home. One would immediately think that the varnish used by Stradivari for his red violins employed brasilin as a vital component. Just a little bit closer, but still no cigar. He used cochilin, a red pigment from the bodies of cactus-eating female bugs from tropical and subtropical America. Last edited by ariel; 8th July 2022 at 12:53 AM.