View source for Gamboge

{{Short description|Yellow gum resin pigment from Cambodia}}
{{infobox color
| title=Gamboge
| image=Gummi gutti1.JPG
| hex=E49B0F
| source=Maerz and Paul{{efn|The colour displayed in the colour box above matches the colour called ''gamboge'' in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul (1930) ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York: McGraw-Hill; the colour ''gamboge'' is displayed on page 43, Plate 10, Color Sample K6.}}
| isccname=Strong orange yellow}}

'''Gamboge''' ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|æ|m|ˈ|b|oʊ|ʒ|,_|-|ˈ|b|uː|ʒ}} {{respell|gam|BOHZH|,_|-|BOOZH}})<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed. (1989){{full citation needed|date=April 2023}}</ref> is a deep-[[yellow]] [[pigment]] derived from a species of tree that primarily grows in Cambodia.<ref name="Winter-2007">{{Cite book |last=Winter |first=John |title=A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics |publisher=Archetype |year=2007 |editor-last=Berrie |editor-first=Barbara |pages=143–157 |chapter=Gamboge}}</ref> Popular in [[East Asia]]n [[watercolor painting|watercolor]] works, it has been used across a number of media dating back to the 8th century.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=144}} Easy to transport and manipulate into a durable watercolor paint, gamboge is notable for its versatility as a pigment in how it has been used in paintings, printing of books, and garment dyes,<ref name="Harley-1970">{{Cite book |last=Harley |first=R. D. |title=Artists' pigments c. 1600-1835: a study in English documentary sources |date=1970 |publisher=Butterworths |isbn=0-408-70004-1 |location=London |oclc=130595}}</ref> including the robes of Buddhist monks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gamboge |url=https://craftatlas.co/natural-dyes/gamboge |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=The Craft Atlas |language=en-US}}</ref> Gamboge is toxic to humans, and is potentially deadly in larger doses.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}  Due to its toxicity and poor lightfastness, gamboge is no longer used in paints, though limited use continues in other contexts.  Though used in a number of different contexts, Gamboge is known not to react well with citric acid surfaces{{clarification needed|date=September 2024}} therefore making it unsuitable for frescos and with white lead.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=147}} For its popularity, Gamboge has not been extensively identified in works of art from any time period; the few instances wherein art historians have attempted to identify whether or not the pigment was used in a given work have confirmed its widespread use and its longevity as staple within watercolor painting particularly in eastern art.<ref name="Eastaugh-2004">{{Cite book |title=The pigment compendium: a dictionary of historical pigments |date=2004 |publisher=Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann |author=Nicholas Eastaugh |isbn=0-7506-5749-9 |location=Amsterdam |oclc=56444720}}</ref>{{Rp|page=170}}

== History ==
Gamboge's first recorded use dates back to the 8th century during which time it appeared in [[Japanese art]].<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" />{{Rp|page=170}} Some historians speculate small shipments of the pigment were able to be distributed in European contexts due to the occasional [[Silk Road|over-land trade journeys]] made from Asia to Europe. Gamboge would become much more accessible beginning in the 17th century as shipping grew in popularity as a method of transporting goods from Asia to Europe.<ref name="Harley-1970" /> It was around this time that Gamboge's popularity in watercolors grew tremendously.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

[[File:Starr-120606-6861-Garcinia xanthochymus-habit-Kahanu Gardens Hana-Maui (24513753944).jpg|thumb|A ''Garcinia'' tree of the Clusiaceae family, which is the source of Gamboge.]]
The pigment is derived from the gum of a species of evergreen of the family [[Guttiferae]] which grows in southeast Asia, primarily Cambodia and Thailand.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=149}} In fact, Gamboge gets its name from a now-antiquated name for [[Cambodia]], ''Camboja,'' though it was also referred to as ''gama gitta'' in some 17th century European color manuals.<ref name="Harley-1970" />{{Rp|page=106}} The pigment is extracted from [[Guttiferae]] trees through a process of cutting several deep incisions into the tree's trunk thus allowing the resin to bleed out into pre-mounted bamboo canes used as receptacle to initially catch and later transport the product.<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" /> The practice of collecting Gamboge in [[bamboo]] cane was so widespread and recognizable that the pigment was often referred to as “pipe Gamboge” for how it conformed to the cylindrical shape of the receptacle.<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" />{{Rp|page=170}}

There was a brief shortage of the pigment during the 1970s and 1980s due to trade restrictions placed on the [[Democratic Kampuchea|Khmer Rouge regime]].<ref name="Finlay-2002">{{Cite book |last=Finlay |first=Victoria |title=Color : a natural history of the palette |date=2002 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=0-345-44430-2 |location=New York |oclc=51302192}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=220–221}} It was during this time that shipments of the gum which makes Gamboge were found to contain bullet casings and other impurities which tainted the pigment.<ref name="Finlay-2002" />{{Rp|pages=220–221}}

While Gamboge is best known for its use in artwork, it does have a secondary function as a laxative. In small doses it can cause watery feces while large doses have been reported to cause death.<ref name="Finlay-2002" />

==Production ==
Gamboge is most often extracted by tapping [[latex]] (sometimes incorrectly referred to as [[sap]]) from various species of evergreen trees of the family [[Clusiaceae]] (also known as [[Guttiferae]]). The tree most commonly used is the gamboge tree (genus ''[[Garcinia]]''), including ''[[Garcinia hanburyi|G. hanburyi]]'' ([[Cambodia]] and [[Thailand]]), ''[[Garcinia morella|G. morella]]'' ([[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]]), and ''G. elliptica'' and ''G. heterandra'' ([[Myanmar]]).<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" />{{Rp|page=170}} The orange fruit of ''[[Garcinia gummi-gutta]]'' (formerly called ''G. cambogia'') is also known as gamboge or gambooge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gamboge: Garcinia cambogia |url=http://asiasociety.org/lifestyle/food-recipes?wordid=2651 |work=Asia Food}}</ref>

The trees must be at least ten years old before they are tapped.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grieve |first1=Maud |last2=Leyel |first2=C. F. |year=1971 |title=A Modern Herbal |edition=illustrated |page=341 |isbn=0-486-22798-7 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLWve-VvBLoC | access-date=2009-03-03 }}</ref> The resin is extracted by making spiral incisions in the bark, and by breaking off leaves and shoots and letting the milky yellow resinous gum drip out. The resulting latex is collected in hollow [[bamboo]] canes.<ref name="compendium">{{cite book |author1=Nicholas Eastaugh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TKFiYsc_xOAC&q=%22Garcinia+hanburyi%22+gambogia&pg=PA164 |title=The Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary of Historical Pigments |author2=Valentine Walsh |author3=Tracey Chaplin |author4=Ruth Siddall |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |year=2004 |isbn=0-7506-5749-9}}</ref> After the resin is congealed, the bamboo is broken away and large rods of raw gamboge remain.<ref name="StClair">{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour |last=St. Clair |first=Kassia |publisher=John Murray |year=2016 |isbn=9781473630819 |location=London |page=81 |oclc=936144129}}</ref>

== Visual characteristics ==
Once extracted from the trees in which it is found, Gamboge resin has a brownish-yellow color.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=143}} Once ground, the resin takes on a deep yellow color.<ref name="Winter-2007" /> Artists sometimes combined [[Prussian blue]] with gamboge to create green; they also mixed it with [[Sienna|burnt sienna]] to make orange.<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" />{{Rp|page=170}}

Gamboge was most commonly used in watercolor painting.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=145}}

== Permanence ==
Gamboge is highly sensitive to light.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=145}} It is known to react poorly with lime surfaces and, as such, is deemed unsuitable for [[fresco]]s.<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" /> Gamboge is also known to react with [[white lead]].<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" />

== Notable occurrences ==
[[File:Thai To Taoist Temple 02.jpg|thumb|Maitepnimit Temple]]
Gamboge has not been extensively identified in works of art from any time period; many analyses of paintings simply identify the presence of "organic yellow" without distinguishing between different organic yellow pigments.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|pages=152–153}}

Gamboge has been identified as the underlying gold paint in the Maitepnimit Temple in Thailand as well as having featured in the Medieval Armenian Glajor Gospel.<ref name="Eastaugh-2004" /> Though not authenticated, it has also been noted that [[Rembrandt]] may have used the pigment in a few of his works and that it appears in [[J. M. W. Turner]]{{'}}s color box.<ref name="Winter-2007" />{{Rp|page=153}}

==Etymology==
The word {{wikt-lang|en|gamboge}} comes from {{lang|la|gambogium}}, the [[Latin]] word for the pigment, which derives from {{lang|la|Gambogia}}, the Latin word for [[Cambodia]].<ref>{{Cite book |editor=Mish, Frederic C. |title=Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary |location=Springfield, Massachusetts |year=1984 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |page=504}}</ref> Its first recorded use as a colour name in [[English language|English]] was in 1634.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Maerz and Paul |title=A Dictionary of Color |location=New York |year=1930 |publisher=McGraw Hill |page=195 |chapter=Color Sample of Gamboge: Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample K6}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Gamboge|volume=11|page=439}}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090410075328/http://www.sewanee.edu/chem/chem%26art/Detail_Pages/Pigments/Gamboge

{{Shades of orange}}
{{Shades of yellow|Mustard}}
{{Non-timber forest products}}

[[Category:Organic pigments]]
[[Category:Pigments]]
[[Category:Resins]]
[[Category:Shades of yellow]]
[[Category:Shades of orange]]
[[Category:Plant dyes]]