1893.] Mr. William J. Russell on Ancient Egyptian Pigments. 67 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, March 17, 1893. 



William Huggins, Esq. D.C.L. LL.D. F.R.S. Vice-President, in 



the Chair. 



William J. Russell, Esq. Ph.D. F.R.S. M.B.I. 



Ancient Egyptian Pigments. 



The red pigment used by the Egyptians from the earliest times is a 

 native oxide of iron, a hematite. Most of the large pieces found by 

 Mr* Petrie are an oolitic haematite. One specimen, on analysis, gave 

 79*11 per cent, and another 81*34 per cent, of ferric oxide. The 

 pieces to be used as pigments were no doubt carefully selected, and 

 the samples that I have examined, mostly from Gurob and Kahun, 

 are very good in colour. All the large pieces were of a singular 

 shape, having one side smooth and curved ; and in all cases this side 

 was strongly grooved with stria?, giving somewhat the appearance 

 to the mass of its having been melted, and allowed to cool in a 

 circular vessel. No doubt the explanation of this smooth-curved 

 surface is, that these pieces had actually been in part used to furnish 

 pigments, and having been rubbed with a little water in a large 

 circular vessel, bad been ground to this shape. By experiment it 

 was found that these pieces of the native haematite yielded, without 

 any further addition by way of medium, a paint which could readily 

 be applied with a brush, as it possesses remarkable adhesive 

 properties, and it resembles exactly, in every particular, the red used 

 in the different kinds of Egyptian paintings. In addition to these 

 samples of the pigments, all of which are native minerals and in 

 their natural conditions, there are other reds, finer in colour and 

 smoother in texture, evidently a superior pigment ; these apparently 

 have been made from carefully selected pieces of haematite, which 

 have been ground and washed, and dried by exposure to the air. 

 Some of these pieces are very fine in colour, and it would be difficult 

 to match them with any native oxide of iron that is used as a pigment 

 at the present day. There is every reason to believe that this is the 

 earliest red pigment which was used, and it remains to this day the 

 commonest and most important one ; it is a body unattacked by acids, 

 unchangeable by heat, and even moisture and sunlight are unable to 

 alter its colour. At the present time many artificial products are 

 used to take the place of this natural pigment. 



Yellow pigments. — These, again, are natural products, and by far 

 the most common yellow used by the Egyptians is a native ochre. 

 These ochres consist of about one-quarter of their weight of oxide of 

 iron, from 7 to 10 per cent, of water, and the rest of their substance 



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