Whites

Lead White The greatest of the whites, and certainly the cruellest, is made of lead. It is hard to imagine a history of art without this dense ‘silver’ white. Lead may have been liberated from its ores as early as 5000 years ago as there is extensive evidence of lead [...]

Blacks

Vine Black Nearly any kind of wood will make charcoal but the most prized for producing beautiful blue-blacks is that made of vines, traditionally made by charring grape vines and stems. Charcoal was a key component of cave painting, examples date back 28,000 years. Many cultures have utilised charcoal for [...]

The First Colours

Ochre - Milingimbi The oldest living culture in the world has developed a complex and unique use of natural pigments in the creation of a diverse range of form and application across this continent. We are proud to partner with Milingimbi Art & Culture Centre, a community owned art practice, [...]

Colour of the Ancient World

Egyptian Blue Egyptian blue, was mankind’s first synthetically produced colour, invented in Ancient Egypt about 5,500 years ago, the same time that the Great Pyramids were built. It was not produced by blind chance, but created with precision. Made from lime, copper and quartz and then kiln red at a [...]

Classical world

  Tyrian Purple The most prestigious pigment of the ancient world was actually made from a predatory sea snail. The dye is extracted from Murex brandaris, a mollusc native to Tyre in Phoenicia, now modern Lebanon, its production going back at least to 1500 BC. In Greek legend it was [...]

Metalics

Gold From pre-history, gold has been a material of wealth; so what could be more pious than to offer it up to the gods through art? Seemingly immune to the passing years; it did not tarnish and lose its splendour. The use of gold in medieval art shows us more [...]

Middle Ages & Renaissance

Lapis Lazuli ‘Ultramarine blue is a colour illustrious, beautiful, and most perfect, beyond all other colours’ How could a colour cost more than gold itself? Ultramarine (Latin ‘from beyond the seas’) is extracted from the natural rock Lapis lazuli (‘blue stone’) sourced almost exclusively for 6,000 years from a single [...]

Writing Inks

Walnut Ink Made from the fresh husks of walnuts, this ink has been in use since the Middle Ages. A rich velvety brown, it can be darkened by evaporating the liquor. Learn More Iron Oak Gall Ink This medieval ink starts with a wasp. In spring, it punctures the soft [...]

Lake Pigments

Kermes Is this a berry, a seed or something else altogether? It is, in fact, a wingless scale insect that lives on the Scarlet Oak tree of southern and eastern Europe. Historically, it was a very important crimson dye. The Ancient Egyptians imported it from Mesopotamia, but trade routes covered [...]