2021. Color Technology and Trade

Colorants

Naturally occurring and synthetic ancient pigments have a history of use spanning thousands of years. Curiously, some of their newly discovered properties make them excellent candidates for semiconductors, anticounterfeiting agents and so much more. In this paper, we will review their ancient roots in art and modern emergence as 21st century workhorses. You can never judge a pigment by its color alone!

Pigments played a vital technological role by enabling the development of advanced artistic techniques, preserving cultural heritage through durable materials like frescoes and facilitating innovations in early chemistry, such as the creation of synthetic colouring compounds. This paper examines pigments found in some exceptional Pompeian contexts spanning the 3rd century BCE to the 79 CE eruption, covering almost the entire palette of an ancient painter made of natural and synthetic, inorganic and organic pigments. Their composition has been revealed thanks to a non-invasive analytical approach designed to preserve these invaluable archaeological resources, illuminating that the artists skillfully mixed the colouring materials to achieve an uncountable range of colour tones. Quantifying any individual colouring compound enables a review of recipes as reported by ancient sources and modern scientific literature and opens new scenarios in the artistic process that likely started in the pigmentarium. In the analysis of the mixtures, the role of Egyptian blue and red lead in the variation of shades, which are almost ubiquitous as additional components in paint mixtures, is worth noting. Ultimately, one of the samples uncovered the earliest known use of a light green compound containing baryte and alunite, providing the first definitive evidence of barium sulphate being utilized in the Mediterranean during ancient times.

This thesis aims to investigate the nature of the trade in blue pigments during the seventeenth century, through an examination of the works held in the Collection of the National Gallery in London. A description of the pigments available during the period, and their place of origin are explained in the second chapter. The third chapter focuses on social and cultural impacts on the use of pigments, such as taste, religion and the art market. The fourth chapter examines the other elements that may influence the trade of pigments such as war, laws and even climate.

Open Access - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021

This article surveys pigment terminology attested in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and the Roman Empire. Various source material is available for exploring pigment nomenclature, including archaeological evidence as well as a range of ancient sources, such as lists of medical ingredients, and encyclopedic texts that sought to explore the available corpus of known pigments. While the etymology is not understood for all early pigments, one trend in the Near East was that pigment names could be borrowed from more prestigious natural materials, such as lapis lazuli or gold. In the Greek and Roman worlds, a greater variety of pigments were available especially due to the broader geographic expanse from which to mine or produce pigments. A few trends persist in Greco-Roman pigment nomenclature. Some pigments continue to be named after natural materials. Other pigments are named after factors such as their provenance, color, an innovator, or their process of manufacture. Keywords Pigment terminology. Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides. Natural materials. Metonymic nomenclature. Pigment provenance. Color in art overview of glass-based pigments (Cavallo and Riccardi 2021) are also presented. Furthermore, two papers on cosmetic (Pérez-Arantegui 2021) and bioactive (antibacterial) pigments (Knapp et al. 2021) provide insights into the variety and different uses of these materials.

PURPURAE VESTES VIΙ Redifining Textile Handicraft, Structures, Tools and Production Processes (Granada 2019).

Ἡ φύσις τῇ φύσει τέρπεται, καὶ ἡ φύσις τὴν φύσιν νικᾷ, καὶ ἡ φύσις τὴν φύσιν κρατεῖ. Ἐθαυμάσαμεν πάνυ ὅτι ἐν ὀλίγῳ λόγῳ πᾶσαν συνήγαγε τὴν γραφήν. Ἥκω δὲ κἀγὼ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ φέρων τὰ φυσικά, ὅπως τῆς πολλῆς περιεργείας καὶ [οὐ] συγκεχυμένης ὕλης καταφρονήσητεή. BÓLOS (pseudo-DĒMOKRITOS): Physica et Mystica.

Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Vol 31, No 2 (2018), 2018

Purple textiles were highly valued in the ancient Mediterranean as a symbol of prestige, social status and power. Despite the numerous publications focused on the production and spread of purple dye technologies, the discussion regarding this particular dye has often been compartmentalised regionally (eastern or western Mediterranean) and chronologically (second or first millennium bc). The aim of this paper is threefold: (1) to propose a full chaîne opératoire for the production of shellfish-purple-dyed textiles; (2) to synthesise the archaeological evidence on production and consumption of such textiles in the entire Mediterranean before the Romans; and (3) to discuss the social implications of the production and consumption of these textiles, to gain a better understanding of their economic and social significance.

Optics and Laser Technology, 2006

Human beings have had an inherent urge to leave their mark in the form of works of art since prehistoric times. This has driven the quest for new and better pigments with which to make paints. This paper describes the origins and composition of earliest earth pigments used by primitive man to decorate the walls of caves through to the synthetic pigments developed in more recent times. Despite modern technology, the artist's palette remains a mixture of the pigments used by cave artists, natural pigments used in the middle ages, and modern organic compounds.

TEXTILES AND DYES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ECONOMY AND SOCIETY, PV VI, 2019

Abstract: Egyptian papyri from the Greco-Roman period and the Greek Alchemists Corpus, dated approximately to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, contain interesting recipes for the preparation of dyes and colourants for textiles, as well as other materials, such as stone, glass and metal. The professional dyers of Greco-Roman Egypt (infectores, offectores and the collective of crafts- men in general) practiced rituals or magic incantations, which specified the best time to open their workshops, or to protect their inventions. Craftsmen operated in workshops equipped with sets of specific instruments, similar to those described in treatises on alchemy. These similarities raise the question: what was the connection between the dyers of these specialised workshops and alchemists? What interests motivated these two groups to engage with each other? Did the Greek dyers and alchemists exchange raw materials or ideas? This paper reviews the possible links between the dyers and the alchemists who knew the formulas de- scribed in the Greek papyri and other texts. This relationship was likely linked to the demand for clothes and cloths dyed with colours that imitated the precious shellfish purple dye, by a growing, wealthy “middle class”. Keywords: Greek papyri, Ancient alchemy, Craftsmen, Dyers, Alchemists Résumé: Les papyrus de l’Égypte gréco-romaine et le Corpus des Alchimistes Grecs, datés du IIIe au IVe siècles, contiennent des recettes intéressantes pour la préparation de teintures et de pigments pour les matières textiles, ainsi que d’autres matériaux tels que la pierre, le verre ou le métal. Nous savons que des teinturiers professionnels de l’Égypte gréco-romaine (infectores et offec- tores et collectif des artisans en général) connaissaient et pratiquaient des rituels ou des incantations magiques qui précisaient le meilleur moment pour ouvrir son atelier ou pour protéger leurs inventions. Du même, les artisans ont travaillé dans des ateliers équipés de leurs instruments spécifiques, semblables à ceux décrits dans les traités sur l’alchimie. C’est à cause de ce fait que l’on pourrait se demander: ces teinturiers, qui travaillent dans des ateliers spécialisés, quels étaient les liens qu’ils maintenaient avec ceux des alchimistes? Quels sont les intérêts qui ont motivé ces deux groupes à s’engager dans ces relations? Il y avait l’échange de matières premières ou d’idées entre les alchimistes grecs et les artisans de la teinture? Cet article examine les relations pos- sibles entre les artisans de teinture et les alchimistes qui connaissaient les formules décrites dans les papyrus grecs et d’autres textes cités plus haut. Relation liée à la demande de robes, et de tissus teints avec des couleurs qui simulaient la pourpre royal, le teint plus cher, par une “classe moyenne” de plus en plus riche.

Egyptological Journal Articles, Edition 6, 2012

This paper discusses three colour aspects in ancient Egypt during the time period of the Old (ca.2584-2117 B.C.), Middle (ca.2066-1650 B.C.) and New Kingdoms (ca.1549-1069 B.C.) (dates according to Dodson 2004, pp.287-291): the two aspects of colour, colour palettes used in painted artistic representation, with, here, specific attention to the colour palettes used in wall paintings and painted reliefs, and colour terminology, discussed in Baines (1985) and a third aspect, the materials used to create pigments for paint. The paper follows each of these aspects through the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, and then discusses the potential relationships among these colour aspects. Because of the complexity of this subject, and on-going revision of research conclusions in this area, this paper provides a broad view of this topic. Other aspects of colour, such as a specific attention to hieroglyphics, textile media and dyes, the effects of varnish or binding media on colour, and other topics or time periods are not detailed in this paper.