Category:Gamboge: Ukiyo-e colorant
Gamboge 藤黄 (tōō): A yellow-orange gum resin produced by several species of the Garcinia tree, such as Garcinia morella found in South Asia and Garcinia hanburyi found in Southeast Asia. Gamboge is composed of a yellow resinous component (70-80%; morelloflavone) and a clear water-soluble gum (~20%). Gamboge is obtained by scoring the trunks of mature trees (older than ten years) and then collecting the poisonous milky yellow resin in hollow bamboo canes. Once the resin has congealed, the bamboo is roasted over fire to evaporate any remaining moisture. Then, the bamboo is broken away to reveal rods of raw gamboge. These rods of gamboge are pulverized, transforming its color from a dull to bright yellow powder.
Gamboge produces a transparent yellow which was frequently hand-painted on prints dating from the 1690s to the 1740s. After the introduction of full color printing, its use seems to decline perhaps because other yellows were easier to obtain and/or print as well as mix with other colorants.
For additional information see: Gamboge, Uemura Dye Archive: Gamboge 195, Garcinia hanburyi (Kew), Garcinia morella (Kew)
Examples of Gamboge in Ukiyo-e Prints
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Analysis
Gamboge does not fluoresce under UVA radiation and does not produce a distinct pattern using Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) spectroscopy. This, in itself is unique because of the possible yellow colorants analyzed, it is the only bright yellow colorant that not only does not fluoresce but also absorbs the fluorescence emitted by the paper. This negative indication can be sometimes used to assign the presence of gamboge.
3D EEM plot of Gamboge
Images of Gamboge
Garcinia morella, by India Biodiversity Portal
Gamboge pieces
Gamboge pieces
Gamboge powder
Gamboge at 100x
Gamboge at 200x
Paper dyed with gamboge
Printed gamboge
List of Prints
Below is a list of prints where gamboge was detected.
Pages in category "Gamboge: Ukiyo-e colorant"
The following 29 pages are in this category, out of 29 total.
G
H
- Harunobu, Courtesan Reading a Letter by Moonlight Reflected on Snow; Parody of Son Kang, 11.19438
- Harunobu, The Sake Cup, sheet 4 of the series Marriage in Brocade Prints, the Carriage of the Virtuous Woman, known as the Marriage series, 11.19475
- Harunobu, Young Couple with Bush Clover; Parody of the Musashi Plain Episode of Tales of Ise, 11.19454
- Harunobu, Young Man Playing a Shakuhachi, 21.4677
- Harunobu, Young Woman Riding a Turtle (Parody of the Story of Urashima Tarô), 21.4594
- Harunobu, Young Woman Tuning a Shamisen, 06.479
- Hokkei, Ômori, from the series Souvenirs of Enoshima, a Set of Sixteen, 11.19845
- Hokusai, Actor Segawa Kikunojô III as the Courtesan Umegawa, 11.2216
- Hokusai, Actors Sawamura Sôjûrô III as Soga no Jûrô and Iwai Hanshirô IV as Oniô’s Daughter Okuni, 06.1271
- Hokusai, Court Lady with New Year Decorations, from the series Comparison of Beauties for the Year of the Goat, 11.25199
- Hokusai, Courtesan and Kamuro with Hagoita, 11.20410
- Hokusai, Duck, Abalone Shell, and Parsley, 11.16798
- Hokusai, Ferry Boat Passing Bridge Pillar, 11.20445
- Hokusai, Fish, Flowers, and Telescope, 11.20408
- Hokusai, Kaminari Shôkurô with a Courtesan, from an untitled series of the Five Manly Men, 11.19684
- Hokusai, The Kyôgen Play Utsubo Zaru, 11.19635
- Hokusai, Two Women with a Koto, from the series Five Great Powers, 11.30481
K
- Kiyomasu I, Courtesan Reading a Poem, 28.198
- Kiyomasu II, Actor Segawa Kikunojô I in Momo Chidori Musume Dôjô-ji, 06.423
- Kiyomasu II, Actors Segawa Kikunojô I as Yomogiu, Ichikawa Ebizô II as Tono no Hyôe, and Yamamoto Kyôzô as Kureha, 21.5459
- Kiyomasu II, Actors Tamazawa Saijirô as the Courtesan Chidori and Ichimura Manzô as Takigô Tôshichi; Calendar for 1744, 21.5455
- Kiyomasu II, The Arrival of the Elephant, 58.343
- Komatsuken, Young Man as the Bodhisattva Monju, 11.30137
- Komatsuken, Young Woman as the Bodhisattva Fugen, 11.30136