Indigo FOR MANY CENTURIES, INDIGO WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT DYE IN THE WORLD. Indigo has been used either as a pigment or a dye from very early times in India and in Egypt. It is referred to under the name of indicum by Pliny; later on the Byzantine writers called it azorium Romanum. ‘Indigo bagadel’…
Orpiment pigment ORPIMENT WAS THE CLOSEST IMITATION TO GOLD. Its Latin name is auripigmentum (gold paint) and in the classical world, it was believed that this resemblance had deeper alchemical roots. It was even said that the Roman emperor Caligula could extract gold from the mineral. In fact, orpiment carries a much more dangerous substance.…
Lamp Black pigment LAMP BLACK HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES. This lightfast, permanent, opaque blue-black pigment was used by the Ancient Egyptians more than 4000 years ago for painting tombs and murals. They preferred its fineness and deep black colour to the grey-black of charcoal. As you’d expect from its name, lamp black is…
