This information will probably be useful for a violin maker.
Of course this is only a fraction of the information we have concerning
wood varnishes.-) Archaeologists recently have found a human skull estimated
to be 2,5 million years old! How many civilizations were on
the Earth before us. According to some, our civilization is already
the fifth!
In 1872, papyrus was discovered near the Egyptian
city of Feve. In the opinion of some scientists its age is 3600 years old.
The German scientist Georg Ebers has deciphered the text. Papyrus is being
preserved in Leipzig library. Here is one interesting recipe from the Leipzig
papyrus: " Finely ground "mareenglas" (version transparent gypsum) and
fish scales is heated up with wax and mixed with hot cow milk. To this
mix is added egg protein and gum. From this mix is formed molded "pearls",
to polish with a soft cloth, the look is better than actual pearls. " /
2/, page 36. It is possible to add many more recipes to this preparation
of artificial precious stones , coloring of fabrics (with uses juices of
plants and CuO,CuO2 for brown and black tones, oxide of cobalt for light-blue
coloring, Fe+3 and Fe+2 for red, purple and violet shades).... Papyrus
contains the recipe for the coloring of a wool with the employment of a
marenroot.
Bolos(from Mende, about Nel river, 3-rd centuries B.C.) wrote: "...
There are varnishes, that reflect from their surfaces with gold or silver
gold shine."
From the 1st century to the present, there have been two
versions: " a Natural history "by Plene's (a famous ancient Roman
scientist) and Deokserede's treatise : " About medicinal means ". Plene
wrote that, the binding substance painting with use of a fire and wax on
painting in general consist from "Cera cum pise"- from wax and resinous
balm, extraction and application of which in an antiquity was known./3/,
p.486.
Vetruve (a Roman architect) described one more kind of application
of wax for a covering of walls and columns. Called "??????" in Greece ("ganozes"
in Russian), this was a process by which wax was fused with olive oil (not
dry), applied to a wall and then liquified by fire./3/, p.487.
Why weren't fatty oils used? First of all, they were not known until
the 6th
century AD. It is important to note, that linseed oil and nut oil when
combined with
wax cannot give a layer paint with a brilliant, glass-like surface.
In other words, the
painting would not have inherent durability. "..
The wax removed of the Egyptian facade has kept its original
properties because it still has the same melting temperature today, whereas
fatty oils, use in most works of art since the 3rd century AD, to the end
of 19th century have come to be completely destroyed. It is an established
fact, that wax through 4900 years does not oxidize! " /3/, p.483
I would like to bring attention to PROPOLIS- it's an intriguing substance,
which unfortunately has become forgotten by many. In the one of Joseph
Michelman's more renowned books /4/, this is mentioned among many other
substances, which could have been used by old Italian violin makers in
mixing their varnishes and grounds. The text was written in 1998.
The literature: 1. V.Strube, volume 1. Ways of development of chemistry. Ì.
the World,
1984, in 2-th volumes, translation with Germany, V.1, P.-239.