Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c9.s3.17

c9.s3.17

The word "lake", as applied to pigments, is derived from a material known as lacca, from which lake pigments were prepared. What was ordinarily known as lacca is, however, not known. It may, however, be surmised that the material was dark red incrustation of resin which is produced on certain kind of trees by certain kinds of insects. This resin is the source of shellac. If the crude material is boiled in water containing a little alkali, the colouring matter is dissolved in water and sold as lac-dye. The colours which lac-dye can be made to produce are quite violet, and they are apt to be not very brilliant. The lac-lake in European painting was primarily a panel-painting colour, being too dark and dull for books and not stable enough for walls.¹⁹