Red sanders

[vbetts]

I'm still slogging through the Citizens and Business File on Footnote.com. I just found a nice invoice from the Clothing Bureau at Huntsville, Texas in which W. H. Haynes bought a number of items from Charles Peine, mostly dealing with dyes and the dyeing process, including 64 lbs of red sanders at 80 cents per pound and 1 barrel of red sanders (168 1/2 lbs) also at 80 cents per pound. The date is May 18, 1863. I found this definition of red sanders:

red sanders
n : tree of India and East Indies yielding a hard fragrant
timber prized for cabinetwork and dark red heartwood used
as a dyewood [syn: red sandalwood, red sanderswood, red
saunders, Pterocarpus santalinus]

I've done some work in Civil War era civilian dyeing, and most of the reds I've seen are madder or cochineal. Has anyone else seen red sanders mentioned in military sources? This dye must have either been left over pre-war, or it came in through the blockade.

Vicki Betts
Texas

[Spinster]

Re: Red sanders

Since I spend time more in civilian sources, I'm not much help on the military side.

One factor to be aware of as you look for a similar item is the perceived interchangeablility of dye woods during first half of the 19th century. Hatchwood, Camwood, Brazilwood, Nicaragua seem to be used interchangeably, and all produce a cheap red that is somewhat fugitive---essentially the same way that red sandalwood behaves in the dyepot.


About the only red-hearted tropical for which I've not seen a dye reference is mahogany. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to find a woodworker with a pile of sawdust he wants swept away....:p