Pernambuco – Golden Brown (Caesalpina echinata)

Originating in Asia, it was much appreciated in Europe in the 15th and 16th C. as a bright red dye. It has in the 16th C. that Portuguese seafarer found trees in Brazil similar to those of India, and which we know today as Brazilwood (in Portuguese pau brasil or “blazing wood”), from which the country would take its name. OLD WOOD has chosen 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.