Sappanwood: Ukiyo-e colorant

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The Tenth Month by Suzuki Harunobu

Sappanwood 蘇芳 (suō): A red dye extracted from several tropical trees, such as Paubrasilia echinata, commonly known as brazilwood from Brazil and Biancaea sappan, commonly known as sappanwood from Southeast Asia. Its principal colorant is Brasilin, a hydroxyanthraquinone, that gives a deep red to brownish color when it is oxidized to form brasilein.

Sappanwood has been detected but the use of it appears to have been infrequent. Due to its sensitivity to pH, sappanwood can be manipulated to produce a range of colors as pink, red, or oranges. It is unknown if printers adjusted the pH to create a range of colors. Evidence of pH manipulation is difficult to extrapolate from the prints themselves since many of the examples have discolored to a dull pinkish brown due to fading and/or ageing.

For additional information see: Sappanwood, Biancaea sappan (Kew)


Examples of Sappanwood in Ukiyo-e Prints

11.13225-pt8-detail.png

Indigo FORS.JPG
Pt 8: Hand colored
Okumura Toshinobu, 11.13225

11.30137-pt1-detail.png

11.30137 EEM Jul 19 2016.jpg
Pt 1: Printed
Komatsuken, 11.30137

11.21066-pt4-detail.png

11.21066-Pt4-EEM750.jpg
Pt 4: Printed
Ryūryūkyo Shinsai, 11.21066

11.20413-pt5-detail.png

11.20413 EEM Feb 6 2019.jpg
Pt 5: Printed
Katsushika Hokusai, 11.20413

11.25669-pt2-detail.png

11.25669-Pt2-EEM.jpg
Pt 2: Printed
Keisai Eisen, 11.25669

Analysis

Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) spectroscopy can easily identify the organic reds: safflower, madder, and sappanwood. Sappanwood only fluoresces slightly under UVA radiation and produces a unique EEM pattern.


Images of Sappanwood

List of Prints

Below is a list of prints where sappanwood was detected.

Pages in category "Sappanwood: Ukiyo-e colorant"

The following 37 pages are in this category, out of 37 total.