Sandarac (or sandarach) is a

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

obtained from the small cypress-like tree ''

Tetraclinis articulata ''Tetraclinis'' (also called arar, araar or Sictus tree) is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, ''Tetraclinis articulata'', also known as Thuja articulata,Atlas mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...

. The resin exudes naturally on the stems of the tree. It is also obtained by making cuts on the bark. It solidifies when exposed to the air. It comes to commerce in the form of small solid chips, translucent, and having a delicate yellow tinge. Morocco has been the main place of origin of sandarac. A similar resin is obtained in southern Australia from some species of the Australian cypress-like trees ''

Callitris ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

'', but the resin has not been systematically collected in Australia.''Analysis of Resins, Balsams and Gum-Resins''
by Karl Dieterich (1920), Chapter II, Section 34. Dieterich states he heard a report "that

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, Marakesh-Safi, on the ...

(i.e. African) sandarach is better and purer than Australian. This may be the reason why the latter has not been more utilised." But Dieterich's own chemical analysis leads him to conclude that "great similarity exists between the two kinds". Historically, especially in the Late Medieval and Renaissance era, sandarac was used to make

varnish Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...

. When "varnish" was spoken of in Renaissance Italy (Italian ''vernice'') it usually meant sandarac.

Copal Copal is tree resin, particularly the aromatic resins from the copal tree ''Protium copal'' (Burseraceae) used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and for other purposes. More generally, copal includes re ...

and other resins displaced it as equally good, less expensive varnishing materials. Nevertheless the sandarac varnish is still valued today for use as a protective coating on paintings and antiques. It gives a coat which is hard, lustrous and durable. The varnish is made by melting the resin and mixing it with (e.g.)

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

. Sandarac resin melts at about 150°C to a colourless or slightly yellow liquid. Its specific gravity is about 1.04. In mid-to-late 19th century photography, a varnish was applied as a preservative to photographic negatives and positives. Sandarac resin was preferred by some photographers for this purpose. Although it is not very strongly aromatic, sandarac resin was and is also used as an incense. The aroma has been compared to

balsam Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic ''busma'', Arabic ''balsam'' and Hebrew ''basam'', "spice", "perfume ...

. Besides the resin and the varnish, the word sandarac may refer to the tree that produces the resin. Entirely separately from that, the ancient Greeks and Romans used the word ''sandarac'' to refer to

arsenic sulfide Arsenic sulfide may refer to: ...

particularly red arsenic sulfide. In medieval Latin the term ''sandaraca'' meant

red lead Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

as well as red arsenic sulfide.''Original Treatises, Dating from the XIIth to the XVIIIth Centuries, on the Arts of Painting, Volume I''
by M.P. Merrifield (1849), including pages ccliii and cclxvi. The word's resin/varnish meaning came to Europe from Arabic in the early 16th century. To distinguish this meaning from the Greek and medieval Latin meaning, it was occasionally called "Arabian sandarac" or "sandaracha Arabum" in

New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

writings. The name in Pakistan and India is چندرس and Arabic was and is سندروس ''sandarūs''.''Sandarūs'' was a resin is in medieval Arabic writers including Ibn Sina (died 1037) and Ibn al-Baitar (died 1248); see سندروس in medieval Arabic texts a
AlWaraq.net
(in Arabic).

References

{{Reflist Resins Varnishes Incense material