Difference between revisions of "Shellac"

Latest revision as of 15:51, 30 May 2022

Lacquer base of shellac and red ocher; MFA# 1991.444

Description

Shellaced paper
MFA# 1992.206

A resinous substance excreted by the female of the lac insect, Laccifer lacca, native to India. The insects primarily deposit lac on the twigs and soft new branches of several varieties of soapberry and acacia trees, such as the sacred fig, Ficus religiosa, found in India, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and elsewhere in southeast Asia. Lac was used as early as about 1200 BCE in India. Shellac and Lac dye were imported to Europe in the 17th century. The resin coated twigs, also called sticklac, undergoes several processing steps to extract useful components. The raw lac is washed, heated and drawn out into thin sheets. Once cooled, the shellac is broken into small flakes for sale as flake shellac. The color of shellac ranges from a pale yellow to a deep red. Shellac is soluble in alcohol and is used to obtain the high gloss on French polished furniture. It is also used as a protective coating for plaster molds and casts. In the 19th century, shellac was filled with wood flour and used for molded composition products such as buttons, picture frames, Daguerreotype and Ambrotype cases, and gramophone records. Black pigmented, mineral-filled shellac was used for 78 rpm phonograph records, mirror frames, brooches, and dressing table sets. Shellac was often adulterated with Rosin (Doerner 1934).

Shellac-based picture frame

Synonyms and Related Terms

Laccifer lacca (also listed as Coccus lacca); Ficus religiosa; gomme laque (Fr.); Schellack (Deut.); Tafellack (Deut.); Plattlack (Deut.); goma laca (Esp.); gommalacca (It); schellack (Ned.); Lacca in tabulis (Deut.); lac; lacca; shell lacca; shell-lacca; gum lac; bleached shellac; lemon flakes; orange flakes; garnet lac; refined shellac; kiri; black buttonlac; buttonlac; sticklac; stick-lac; seedlac; kusmi; katki; kusmi; shellack; Diatite; Smiths Patent American Composition

Applications

Coating
Natural plastic

Risks

FTIR(MFA)

Moisture can produce a white haze in a shellac finish.

Physical and Chemical Properties

Fresh shellac is soluble in ethanol, acetone. Shellac becomes insoluble with age.
Insoluble in water, turpentine or mineral spirit.
Iodine number = 10-18
Saponification number = 185-213
Acid number = 48-64

Autofluoresces orange: shade depends on initial color of shellac

Melting Point	115-120 C
Density	1.035-1.140 g/ml
Refractive Index	1.516

Comparisons

Properties of Natural Resins

Additional Images

Bo treeFicus religiosa
German shellac
Lemon shellac

Resources and Citations

K.Wehlte, The Materials and Techniques of Painting, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1975.

G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 705

Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 8623

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac (Accessed Feb. 10, 2006)

Pam Hatchfield, Pollutants in the Museum Environment, Archetype Press, London, 2002

Thomas B. Brill, Light Its Interaction with Art and Antiquities, Plenum Press, New York City, 1980 Comment: ref. index = 1.516

Susan E. Schur, Conservation Terminology: A review of Past & Current Nomenclature of Materials, Technology and Conservation, Spring (p.34-39); Summer (p.35-38); Fall (p.25-36), 1985

Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "lac" [Accessed February 6, 2003].

Website: www.nswpmith.com.au/historyofplastics.html

Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Bo.tree_bark.jpg|thumb|Bo tree
+[[File:MFA1991444 Shellac.jpg|thumb|Lacquer base of shellac and red ocher; MFA# 1991.444]]
-''Ficus religiosa'']]
 == Description ==
+[[File:MFA1992203 Shellac.jpg|thumb|Shellaced paper<br>MFA# 1992.206]]
+A resinous substance excreted by the female of the lac insect, Laccifer lacca, native to India. The insects primarily deposit lac on the twigs and soft new branches of several varieties of soapberry and acacia trees, such as the sacred fig, ''Ficus religiosa'', found in India, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and elsewhere in southeast Asia. Lac was used as early as about 1200 BCE in India. Shellac and [[lac dye]] were imported to Europe in the 17th century. The resin coated twigs, also called sticklac, undergoes several processing steps to extract useful components. The raw lac is washed, heated and drawn out into thin sheets. Once cooled, the shellac is broken into small flakes for sale as flake shellac. The color of shellac ranges from a pale yellow to a deep red. Shellac is soluble in alcohol and is used to obtain the high gloss on French polished furniture. It is also used as a protective coating for plaster molds and casts. In the 19th century, shellac was filled with wood flour and used for molded composition products such as buttons, picture frames, [[daguerreotype]] and [[ambrotype]] cases, and gramophone records. Black pigmented, mineral-filled shellac was used for 78 rpm phonograph records, mirror frames, brooches, and dressing table sets. Shellac was often adulterated with [[rosin]] (Doerner 1934).
-A resinous substance excreted by the female of the lac insect, Laccifer lacca, native to India. The insects primarily deposit lac on the twigs and soft new branches of several varieties of soapberry and acacia trees, such as the sacred fig, ''Ficus religiosa'', found in India, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and elsewhere in southeast Asia. Lac was used as early as about 1200 BCE in India. Shellac and [http://cameo.mfa.org/materials/fullrecord.asp?name=lac dye lac dye] were imported to Europe in the 17th century. The resin coated twigs, also called sticklac, undergoes several processing steps to extract useful components. The raw lac is washed, heated and drawn out into thin sheets. Once cooled, the shellac is broken into small flakes for sale as flake shellac. The color of shellac ranges from a pale yellow to a deep red. Shellac is soluble in alcohol and is used to obtain the high gloss on French polished furniture. It is also used as a protective coating for plaster molds and casts. In the 19th century, shellac was filled with wood flour and used for molded composition products such as buttons, picture frames, [http://cameo.mfa.org/materials/fullrecord.asp?name=daguerreotype daguerreotype] and [http://cameo.mfa.org/materials/fullrecord.asp?name=ambrotype ambrotype] cases, and gramophone records. Black pigmented, mineral-filled shellac was used for 78 rpm phonograph records, mirror frames, brooches, and dressing table sets. Shellac was often adulterated with [http://cameo.mfa.org/materials/fullrecord.asp?name=rosin rosin] (Doerner 1934).
+[[File:shellacframevt.jpg|thumb|Shellac-based picture frame]]
-[[File:shellacframevt.jpg|thumb|Shellace based picture frame]]
 == Synonyms and Related Terms ==
 ''Laccifer lacca'' (also listed as ''Coccus lacca''); ''Ficus religiosa''; gomme laque (Fr.); Schellack (Deut.); Tafellack (Deut.); Plattlack (Deut.); goma laca (Esp.); gommalacca (It); schellack (Ned.); Lacca in tabulis (Deut.); lac; lacca; shell lacca; shell-lacca; gum lac; bleached shellac; lemon flakes; orange flakes; garnet lac; refined shellac; kiri; black buttonlac; buttonlac; sticklac; stick-lac; seedlac; kusmi; katki; kusmi; shellack; Diatite; Smiths Patent American Composition
-[[[SliderGallery rightalign|MFA- Shellac.jpg~FTIR]]]
+== Applications ==
+* Coating
+* Natural plastic
-== Other Properties ==
+== Risks ==
+[[[SliderGallery rightalign|Shellac, Orange, Gettens 100.A17.TIF~FTIR(MFA)]]]
-Fresh shellac is soluble in ethanol, acetone.  Shellac becomes insoluble with age.
+Moisture can produce a white haze in a shellac finish.
-Insoluble in water, turpentine or mineral spirit.
+== Physical and Chemical Properties ==
-Iodine number = 10-18;  Saponification number = 185-213;  Acid number = 48-64
+* Fresh shellac is soluble in ethanol, acetone.  Shellac becomes insoluble with age.
+* Insoluble in water, turpentine or mineral spirit.
+* Iodine number = 10-18
+* Saponification number = 185-213
+* Acid number = 48-64
-Autofluoresces orange: shade depends on initial color of shellac
+* Autofluoresces orange: shade depends on initial color of shellac
 {| class="wikitable"
 |-
 ! scope="row"| Melting Point
-| 115-120
+| 115-120 C
 |-
 ! scope="row"| Density
-| 1.035-1.140
+| 1.035-1.140 g/ml
 |-
 ! scope="row"| Refractive Index
 | 1.516
 |}
-== Hazards and Safety ==
-Moisture can produce a white haze in a shellac finish.
-== Additional Information ==
-K.Wehlte, ''The Materials and Techniques of Painting'', Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1975.  M.Doerner, ''The Materials of the Artist'', Harcourt, Brace &amp; Company, 1934.
 == Comparisons ==
 [[media:download_file_112.pdf|Properties of Natural Resins]]
 == Additional Images ==
 <gallery>
+File:Bo.tree_bark.jpg|thumb|Bo tree''Ficus religiosa''
 File:X shellac german.jpg|German shellac
 File:X shellac lemon1.jpg|Lemon shellac
 </gallery>
+== Resources and Citations ==
-== Authority ==
+* K.Wehlte, ''The Materials and Techniques of Painting'', Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1975.
-* G.S.Brady, G.S.Brady, ''Materials Handbook'', McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971  Comment: p. 705
+* G.S.Brady, ''Materials Handbook'', McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971  Comment: p. 705
-* Ralph Mayer, Ralph Mayer, ''A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques'', Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
+* Ralph Mayer, ''A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques'', Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
-* Richard S. Lewis, Richard S. Lewis, ''Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary'', Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
+* Richard S. Lewis, ''Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary'', Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
-* Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, ''Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology'', U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
+* Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, ''Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology'', U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
 * ''Dictionary of Building Preservation'', Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996
-* Kurt Wehlte, Kurt Wehlte, ''The Materials and Techniques of Painting'', Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1975  Comment: p. 401
 * ''The Merck Index'', Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983  Comment: entry 8623
-* Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com  Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac (Accessed Feb. 10, 2006)
+* Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac (Accessed Feb. 10, 2006)
-* Pam Hatchfield, Pam Hatchfield, ''Pollutants in the Museum Environment'', Archetype Press, London, 2002
+* Pam Hatchfield, ''Pollutants in the Museum Environment'', Archetype Press, London, 2002
-* Thomas B. Brill, Thomas B. Brill, ''Light Its Interaction with Art and Antiquities'', Plenum Press, New York City, 1980  Comment: ref. index = 1.516
+* Thomas B. Brill, ''Light Its Interaction with Art and Antiquities'', Plenum Press, New York City, 1980  Comment: ref. index = 1.516
-* Susan E. Schur, Susan E. Schur, Conservation Terminology: A review of Past & Current Nomenclature of Materials, ''Technology and Conservation'', Spring (p.34-39); Summer (p.35-38); Fall (p.25-36), 1985
+* Susan E. Schur, Conservation Terminology: A review of Past & Current Nomenclature of Materials, ''Technology and Conservation'', Spring (p.34-39); Summer (p.35-38); Fall (p.25-36), 1985
-* ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', http://www.britannica.com  Comment: "lac" Encyclopdia Britannica from Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service. [Accessed February 6, 2003].
+* ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', http://www.britannica.com  Comment: "lac" [Accessed February 6, 2003].
-* Website address 1, Website address 1  Comment: www.nswpmith.com.au/historyofplastics.html
+* Website: www.nswpmith.com.au/historyofplastics.html
 * Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000