Block of raw leaf gutta percha, 1942-1945.

An inscribed mottled brown rectangular block of gutta percha manufactured in Telcon's (formerly the Gutta Percha Company) plantation in Malaya during the Japanese occupation in World War II. Gutta percha is a close relative of rubber and is obtained as a resin from a tropical tree. It used to be extensively used as an electrical insulator and in the manufacture of golf balls, but has largely been superseded by synthetic materials.