Originating in Asia, it was much appreciated in Europe during the 15th and 16th C. as a bright red dye.
In the 16th C. Portuguese seafares found trees in Brazil similar to those of India, which are called today Brazilwood (in Portuguese pau brasil or “blazing wood”), from which the country would take its name.
OLD WOOD has selected the Caesalpina echinata species from which the compound brazilin is taken. It becomes brazilein when it oxidates in the air and under light.
OLD WOOD processes both these compounds, transforming their initial colour of dark red with shiny and lush purple overtones to an ochre-purple-brown which produces bright, vibrant, transparent and highly stable golden shades.
