Tess,
This Tasmanian company seems to have a lovely selection of sealing waxes in a huge variety of colours.
http://www.waxseals.com.au/waxseals.htmVenice Turpentine is a yellowish, viscous resin from the European Larch, a pine tree. It is used for lithographic work, as a sealing wax, and in varnishes. Horsemen have used it for years as a salve for cuts and as a hoof dressing. It IS a type of turpentine, but it has drying and hardening properties, it is used by many farmers to harden horses hooves and dry them out out.
You cannot use the everyday petro chemical turpentine.
I did find it for sale here as an artists supply by Sennelier!
http://www.dickblick.com/products/sennelier-venice-turpentine/Black resin was at least at one point in history actually bitumen, and lamp black, you can use fresh pine resin after you have let it 'cure' for a year LOL
These days,
Black sealing-wax is composed of gum-lac, or shell-lac, melted with one-half or one-third of its weight of levigated ivory-black. To prevent the composition from becoming too brittle, Venice turpentine, in the proportion of two-thirds of the above ingredients, is usually added; as it likewise contributes to improve the beauty of the manufacture. These substances being melted, and properly stirred over a slow fire, the liquid is next poured upon an iron plate, or stone, previously oiled ; and, while soft, it must be rolled into sticks; which are then exposed to heat, till they acquire a glossy surface.
The Ettiquette of sealing wax. ( An interesting note on the appropriate use of colours also)
1840'sIt showed a lack of respect if you used a wafer to seal your envelope.
Men usually used red.Ladies used gilt, rose, and other colors.Source and more information here:
http://www.victorianpassage.com/2009/07/unfolding_the_mysteries_of_sea.phpWhen in mourning you used black seals.
When writing to someone in mourning you used black edged paper and a black seal.
Using red sealing wax when writing to someone in mourning was considered rudeness or ignorance.
Large seals were considered bad taste.
The smaller and glossier the better.
A small letter gets one seal, a larger letter two.
If it contains important paper or documents it should receive three or more, according to the size of envelope.
If using a person to carry a letter as a favor, it was rude to add more than one seal.
If your letter was folded in a manner that partly opened it at the end, its contents being able to be read, then it was impolite to put a little wax upon the edges. Only when sent by post or by domestic would this be acceptable.
When not using an envelope and the third part of the letter is written upon you would have left a small blank space where the seal was to be put so as to not cover over any words of the letter.
When staying overnight, and so as to not trouble your hostess, always carry a well furnished paper-case, pens, pencil, India-rubber, wafers, sealing-wax, and seals.
