Hex triplet #E49B0F CMYK (c, m, y, k) (0, 35, 94, 6) Source Maerz and Paul | sRGB (r, g, b) (228, 155, 15) HSV (h, s, v) (38°, 94%, 94%) | |
Gamboge (/ɡæmˈboʊʒ/ gam-BOHZH, /ɡæmˈboʊdʒ/ gam-BOHJ, or /ɡæmˈbuːʒ/ gam-BOOZH) is a partially transparent deep saffron to mustard yellow pigment. It is used to dye Buddhist monks' robes because the color is a deep tone of saffron, the traditional color used for the robes of Theravada Buddhist monks.
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Production
Gamboge is most often extracted by tapping resin (sometimes incorrectly referred to as sap) from various species of evergreen trees of the family Clusiaceae (also known as Guttiferae). The tree most commonly used is the gamboge tree (genus Garcinia), including G. hanburyi (Cambodia and Thailand), G. morella (India and Sri Lanka), and G. elliptica and G. heterandra (Myanmar). The orange fruit of Garcinia gummi-gutta (formerly called G. cambogia) is also known as gamboge or gambooge.
The trees must be at least ten years old before they are tapped. The resin is extracted by making spiral incisions in the bark, and by breaking off leaves and shoots and letting the milky yellow resinous gum drip out. The resulting latex is collected in hollow bamboo canes. After the resin is congealed, the bamboo is broken away and large rods of raw gamboge remain.
Etymology
The word gamboge comes from gambogium, the Latin word for the pigment, which derives from Gambogia, the Latin word for Cambodia. Its first recorded use as a color name in English was in 1634.
New gamboge
"New gamboge" is synthetic yellow pigment. The pigment has a color similar to that of natural gamboge.