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Scan 132
An encyclopedia of the violin
22 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 104. See the scan on archive.org.
1A glazed earthenware dish should be filled with good ink and exposed, if it be summer, to the direct heat of the sun, if it be winter placed upon the stove, and in either case left until the liquid portion of the ink has been entirely absorbed by evaporation, leaving nothing in the dish but a kind of black deposit. With a rounded knife or a piece of wood, this black deposit is detached from the bottom of the dish, and is ground by means of a glass pestal together with a little spirits of wine; it is then mixed with the varnish in whatever quantity may be necessary to furnish a solid black color.
3The Germans grind lamp black with the varnish and then apply it, a process which is much more rapid, but which yields a black offensive to the eye, since it shades over into gray.
5Red.—To obtain a red color the process already explained is followed, the red being drawn after settling, as already indicated for the colors applied before varnishing. If a dark red is desired, however, one must proceed in the following manner:
7In a new, glazed earthenware vessel about 2 3/5 ounces of flat lacquer, the darkest colored obtainable, should be boiled together with 1/6 of an ounce of green copperas. It is taken from the fire when approximately four hours have passed, is drawn after settling, and dried as in the case of the black. Then it is ground together with spirits of wine to be mixed with the varnish.
9Brown.—In order to obtain a brown employ the same process as for black, using the color indicated in place of the ink in the preceding case for the colors applied before the varnish.
11For a red-brown or brownish red, the process is exactly the same as for a black, as has already been explained on p. 101.
13Yellow.—In order to obtain a yellow, all that is needed is to steep tumeric or curcuma, or else saffron in spirits of wine for about twenty-four hours, and then mix it with the varnish.
15Tumeric, which also goes by the name of terra merita, and saffron both yield a yellow color, but there is a difference, nevertheless, between the two color principles.
17There is a third drug which, dissolved in alcohol, also produces a handsome yellow: gamboge. This, however, must be dissolved in a hot-water bath. It will be shown, later on, under the head of varnishes, how the hot-water dissolved bath is employed.
19Mahogany Color.—There should be steeped in 8 ounces of spirits of wine 14/15 of an ounce of tumeric and 14/15 of an ounce of dragon's blood. These ingredients should be allowed to dissolve in the spirits of wine for some four or five days, care being taken to stir the bottle containing them often, since, when the gums have thoroughly dissolved, this color is mixed with the varnish.
21The quantity of tumeric or of dragon's blood to be dissolved may be somewhat in excess or somewhat less than the amounts indicated, according as the
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