What is it?
Shellac is made from amber flakes secreted from tiny lac insect in the Far East. It’s used for a wide range of applications including the old gramaphone records
It's extensively used in theater and film, interior design, an art form nad ahost of commercial applcations
Diluting shellac in methylated spirits turns it into a rich amber translucent liquid.
It has a low toxicity, is fast drying, easy to use and can be used with encaustic wax.
We used it meths and aniline dyes in the shellac, known as French Enamel Varnish (FEV) in a whole range of applications.
Aniline dyes give deep rich colours, ideal for replicating medieval stained glass windows, and in the example below.
The finish of Nostromo in the original Alien, below, was done with FEV's, along with exterior Nostrom "Leg"
History of Aniline Dye
- William Henry Perkin, a young chemist, invented aniline dye in the mid-1800s.
- Perkin was trying to create an artificial version of quinine, a drug used to treat malaria.
- His first dye, called Mauveine, was a purple dye that became the first mass-produced chemical dye.
It took a while to take off and it wasnt until the young Queen Victoria commisioned a dress dyed with analine purple it took off.
Here's a link to the Science Museum celebrating 180 years of Perkin's invention. He was 19 at the time.
"180 years ago today (12 March 1838), the famous chemist William Henry Perkin was born. To commemorate this anniversary, Sophie Waring, our Curator of Chemistry, looks at items in the collections linked to his most famous invention: mauveine, the first synthetic organic chemical dye."
Link to more images of Shellac
These days we can use spirit dyes or dry pigments.