Editing Shellac (section)

== History ==
[[File:Laksha - ලාක්ෂා - Lacquerware.jpg|thumb|right|''Laksha'' is a traditional form of lacquerware from Sri Lanka which is made from shellac derived from [[Lac (resin)|Lac]] resin.]]
The earliest written evidence of shellac goes back {{formatnum:3000}} years, but shellac is known to have been used earlier.<ref name="naturalhandyman.com">[http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/author/zinsser/shellac.html Naturalhandyman.com : DEFEND, PRESERVE, AND PROTECT WITH SHELLAC : The story of shellac]</ref> According to the ancient Indian epic poem, the [[Mahabharata]], an entire palace was coated with dried shellac.<ref name="naturalhandyman.com" />

Shellac was uncommonly used as a dyestuff for as long as there was a trade with the [[East Indies]]. According to Merrifield,<ref name="Merrifield">{{cite book
 |year=1849
 |title=Original Treatises on the Art of Painting
 |last=Merrifield |first=Mary
 |isbn=978-0-486-40440-0
 |publisher=Dover Publ.
 |location=Mineola, N.Y.
}}</ref> shellac was first used as a binding agent in artist's pigments in Spain in the year 1220. 

The use of overall paint or varnish decoration on large pieces of furniture was first popularised in Venice (then later throughout Italy). There are a number of 13th-century references to painted or varnished [[cassone]], often [[dowry]] cassone that were made deliberately impressive as part of dynastic marriages. The definition of varnish is not always clear, but it seems to have been a [[Varnish#Shellac|spirit varnish]] based on [[Benzoin resin|gum benjamin]] or [[Mastic (plant resin)|mastic]], both traded around the Mediterranean. At some time, shellac began to be used as well. An article from the ''Journal of the American Institute of Conservation'' describes using [[infrared spectroscopy]] to identify shellac coating on a 16th-century cassone.<ref name="JAIC Cassone">{{cite journal
 |title=Furniture finish layer identification by infrared linear mapping microspectroscopy
 |url=http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic31-02-006.html
 |journal=Journal of the American Institute of Conservation
 |volume=31
 |issue=2, Article 6
 |pages=225 to 236
 |year=1992
 |doi=10.2307/3179494
 |jstor=3179494
 |last1=Derrick
 |first1=Michele R.
 |last2=Stulik
 |first2=Dusan C.
 |last3=Landry
 |first3=James M.
 |last4=Bouffard
 |first4=Steven P.
 |access-date=16 May 2008
 |archive-date=6 July 2009
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706072547/http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic31-02-006.html
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> This is also the period in history where "varnisher" was identified as a distinct trade, separate from both carpenter and artist.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Another use for shellac is [[sealing wax]].<ref name="Woods,1994">{{cite journal
 |title=The Nature and Treatment of Wax and Shellac Seals
 |last=Woods |first=C.
 |year=1994
 |issue=2
 |pages=203–214 |journal=Journal of the Society of Archivists
|volume=15 |doi=10.1080/00379819409511747 }}</ref> The widespread use of shellac seals in Europe dates back to the [[17th century]], thanks to the increasing trade with India.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Some Notes on the Preservation, Moulding and Casting of Seals |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |last=Jenkinson |first=Hilary |date=1924-05-22 |issue=4 |volume=4 |pages=388–403 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500006193|s2cid=137543748 }}</ref>