Tamarind seed gum, like many organic gums such as neem gum, wood apple gum, i.e. the secretion from the bark of the trees were used in preparing canvas, priming , fixing gold foil etc. Tamarind seed belongs to this category, since synthetic glues were unheard of then.
Seeds were soaked, ground to a paste, boiled to a paste consistency and then used. Copper sulphate was added as fungicide to this paste. . Even now large pattachitra canvasses are made like this , though the modern ready made canvasses have taken over to a great extent.
Attached images from Facebook.
Used as primer for the surface, tamarind seed paste provided a congenial base for coloring unlike the synthetic ones where we get issues like resistance , paint flaking, falling off etc. Making the paste was/is a laborious process, though the powder, now available, reduced a few steps.
Just 10 seeds will do to make 3,4 boards of medium size. Why not try?
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