The original Indian yellow pigment was brought to India from Persia in the 15th C. It is an organic material (magnesium salts derived from euxanthic acid), taken from the urine of bovine animals fed with mangos. In the early 20th C. it was outlawed to avoid cruelty to animals and because of Hindu beliefs. It is a pigment of incomparable transparency and luminosity, with a deep orange hue and a fluorescent green verging on gold, and OLD WOOD has used its name for Weld – Indian Yellow, which is vegetable origin (Roseda luteola L.) from the resedaceae family. The Roseda luteola, also known as weld, comes from the Latin luteola, meaning a yellowish colour associated with certain flowers. Known in prehistoric times and mentioned by the Pliny, it was used widely in Europe, especially in the 15th and 16th C. in Italy, Spain and France, as a very stable dye for wool and silk. The dye compound is luteolin, a flavonoid (flavone) with the chemical structure of phenyl benzopyrone. OLD WOOD offers a very transparent yellow pigment, deep and luminous with a touch of orange perfectly complementary to the deep reds by proximity and to the purples by opposition.
