EST. 1990
Pure shellac. Sourced direct.
Three and a half decades of pure shellac from a fifth-generation refining family — flakes, buttons, seedlac, and burn-in sticks.
Harvest 2025
On a bench in Virginia, a small operation finishes orders the way Ron Ashby did for thirty-five years — by weighing out flakes one pound at a time. The shellac comes from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. The recipes for the burn-in sticks trace to a Kansas City finishing supply that closed decades ago. Most of what we sell, you cannot easily get elsewhere. That is the whole point.
What we sell.
A small catalog. Each item chosen because it cannot easily be replaced.
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BUTTON LAC · KUSMI
Kusmi #1 Button Lac
The historically authentic form of shellac. Wax-containing, cottage-produced, period-correct for French polishing and conservation work. From the highest grade our partners select for us each season.
$19.45 / lb
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DEWAXED · LIGHT
Dewaxed Super Blonde Shellac Flake
The palest of the dewaxed grades. For French polishing on pale woods where the finish must not shift the color of what you have spent weeks building.
$19.70 / lb
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CURATED · CHEMICAL AGING
Quebracho Powdered Tannin
Natural tannin used to artificially age new wood — letting fresh stock match the deep, oxidized tone of an antique before the finish even goes on. Hard to find. We carry it because the people we serve need it.
$22.80
From the Bench.
Notes on the material, the people who use it, and the work that doesn't scale.