Tragacanth is a white resin mass without any scent or flavor that has been known since the Ancient World. This resin is a product of the Boxthorn bush from India, the Iran and the Mediterranean area. Pharmacists formerly used tragacanth as a stabilizer and bonding agent. In sugar bakers' cookbooks "Zuckerbossierer" (Sugar Repairer) of the 17th and 18th century it also appears under the name "ausgelaufenes Zuckerzeug". Besides tragacanth users in Swabia, especially masters from Vienna and Berlin were famous for their Christmas ornaments during the Biedermeier era.
Tragacanth is a great mass for modelling of which the surface structure is less brittle than that of conventional doughs (e.g. Springerle dough). With this the wooden molds could be precisely filled and delicately painted after drying. Part of the tragacanth figures were glazed with gum arabic that gave the light colored mass an almost porcelain-like effect.
Tragacanth is a white resin mass without any scent or flavor that has been known since the Ancient World. This resin is a product of the Boxthorn bush from India, the Iran and the Mediterranean area. Pharmacists formerly used tragacanth as a stabilizer and bonding agent. In sugar bakers' cookbooks "Zuckerbossierer" (Sugar Repairer) of the 17th and 18th century it also appears under the name "ausgelaufenes Zuckerzeug". Besides tragacanth users in Swabia, especially masters from Vienna and Berlin were famous for their Christmas ornaments during the Biedermeier era.
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