$8.55
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Please note this is NOT a type of gypsum cement. It is a totally different product.
If you're interested in this as a painting ground, you may also be interested in pigments:
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Not all sizes are pictured.
This is a very fine, ground gypsum, chemically known as calcium sulfate (actually calcium sulfate dihydrate, sometimes "hydrate") which is mined in Italy. Also called "Terra Alba" (which means "white earth" in Latin). It's what the mineral alabaster is made of. Gypsum is mined worldwide.
The material in this listing is called alabaster by the supplier and it is mined in Italy in the region of Tuscany, near the town of Volterra. The supplier says:
"...Gesso (Italian for gypsum) was used since before the Renaissance and mixed with glue size to prepare wood panels and frames for painting and to adhere gold leaf. Recommended in Cennino Cennini's treatise on painting, Il libro dell'arte (often translated as The Craftsman's Handbook), to make "gesso sottile" for painting grounds. It makes a brilliant white gesso that can take a high polish for gilding. Add to oil colors and mediums as a transparent filler and to give body or in tempera as a white filler.
Alabaster (also called satin spar) is a natural crystalline mineral of hydrated calcium sulfate mined near Volterra (between Florence and Sienna), Italy. Softer than chalk (3 Mohs scale of mineral hardness), its hardness of 1.5 to 2 makes a soft white gesso that is easier to polish to a smooth finish for gilding bases and painting grounds. Calcite or chalk, being a carbonate, effervesces on exposure to acids, whereas gypsum alabaster, when so treated, remains practically unaffected..."
When heated at high temperatures (calcined) it becomes plaster. From Wiki: "Because the quarries of the Montmartre district of Paris have long furnished burnt gypsum (calcined gypsum) used for various purposes, this dehydrated gypsum became known as "Plaster of Paris". Upon addition of water, after a few tens of minutes plaster of Paris becomes regular gypsum (dihydrate) again, causing the material to harden or "set" in ways that are useful for casting and construction." It is used in Portland Cement (which is used to make concrete) as a set retarder and also as a strength accelerator. It serves as a plaster retarder also.
USG is a US manufacturer of gypsum and gypsum products (plaster, gypsum cement).
https://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/en_CA_east/products-solutions/products/industrial-and-specialty/fillers-cement-and-plastics/usg-terra-alba-no-1.html
"The dihydrate form of calcium sulfate used in low temperature thermoset plastic and specialty cement applications.... produced by fine grinding and air-separating high-purity, white gypsum containing 20% water of crystallization. It releases combined water as it is heated above 50°C, releasing 75% of water as temperatures reach 180°C (only when temperatures exceed 400°C is water totally removed)....Can be used as a flame-retarding filler when processed at room temperature...Contributes to desired expansion, green strength and controlled set in specialty cement applications...Is a relatively soft material (2-3 Mohs scale hardness) contributing to minimal wear on equipment...[used in plastics it]...offers bright white color, softness and good acid resistance...achieves a good balance between stiffness and impact resistance in polyolefins...acts as a good performing functional filler in polymers, caulks and adhesives"
The Wiki article [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsum ] is excellent and lists 20+ uses for it, the more obscure being the most interesting:
-A binder in fast-dry tennis court clay.
-A tofu (soy bean curd) coagulant, making it ultimately a major source of dietary calcium, especially in Asian cultures which traditionally use few dairy products.
-Adding hardness to water used for brewing.
-Used in baking as a dough conditioner, reducing stickiness, and as a baked-goods source of dietary calcium. The primary component of mineral yeast food.
-A common ingredient in making mead.
-In the medieval period, scribes and illuminators mixed it with lead carbonate (powdered white lead) to make gesso, which was applied to illuminated letters and gilded with gold in illuminated manuscripts.
-In foot creams, shampoos and many other hair products
-Tests have shown that gypsum can be used to remove pollutants such as lead or arsenic from contaminated waters.-
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1-2 business days
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Feb 21, 2024
As described, was used as pigment to make watercolors.
Jamie Trost
May 2, 2023
Shara Huskey
Feb 8, 2023
bellexreyes
May 19, 2022
Super quick shipping. Item was in good condition.
Niq Ruc
May 11, 2022
Attentive and generous sellers! Beautiful products! Thank You Northern West Stuff!
Mary-Michael Ryan
