Color is a wonderful thought provoking subject, and one that’s been around for 20,000 years, as evidenced by early cave paintings. But not only the cavemen culture gave colors symbolism and meaning. One of the most interesting histories behind color is that during every age and region, dyes and pigments have been produced depending on available resources.
In particular, the Chinese were thought to manufacture and perfect the use of color tens of thousands of years ago. The Chinese were also among the first to practice Color Healing with recorded “diagnoses” in a chronicle that was 2,000 years old, called, “The Nei/ching.”
Egypt is unique region known for its use of color. Modern systems for recycling paint is inspired by the technical achievements of the Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians believed color to have magical healing properties. Before early cave paintings that were made using iron oxides, the ancient Egyptians developed paints from pigments in the soil, which were yellow, orange, and red.
Before the 19th century, “paint” was only known as something that was oil-bound; something bound with glue was called “distemper.” By 1,000 BC, paint development came in the form of varnishes and paints from acacia tree gum. During this period, ochers, umbers, and blacks were easily obtainable, and new colors were also being discovered.
Around 1500 BC in Greece and Crete, painting became known as an art form. It was also during this time that the Romans learned of Egyptian color skills. In fact, it was the Romans who gave us purple, which was made using a pound of royal purple dye that required the crushing of four million mollusks. The Egyptians created the first new color during this period, known as “Egyptian Blue.”
“Naples Yellow” burst onto the color scene around 500 BC. To make Genuine Indian Yellow, it had to be sent to London for purification after mixing mud with concentrated cow urine. Sepia Brown was made using the dried ink sac of squid, and Sap Green was created with the Blackthorn berry.
The discovery of mixing two colors together and creating a third was made by Plato. The manufacture of color was thus changed.
Even though color was an obviously important and at times, religious aspect in many cultures, none of these groups named very many colors. In the 1960s, two anthropologists conducted an international study of color naming. Frequently, many languages only had two color terms, equivalent to white light and black dark. 98 languages were studied by the anthropologists, and it was then discovered that the highest number of basic color terms were found in the English language, in which we have eleven: white, black, red, yellow, green, orange, pink, purple, blue, brown, and grey. The other millions of color names are “borrowed;” i.e., grape, peach, gold, avocado, tan, watermelon, etc.
Binder, which is what paint is comprised of, holds the paint together. Appropriate thinners make paint easy to apply. 5,000 years ago, the first synthetic pigment was made by the Egyptians from grinded down blue grass, called “Blue Frit.”
Pigment color depended on grown in or European or similar temperate regions indigenous dyestuffs before the 16th century. “Natural” dyestuffs were available from 1550 – 1850, but the range of available dyestuffs was extended with tropical dyestuffs from Indian, Central America, etc.
Between 600 BC – AD 400, the Romans and Greeks produced varnishes. And in another culture across the world, red dye was considered more valuable than gold. The ethnic heritage was the Aztec civilization, and they practiced Color Healing as well.
“Cochineal red” was discovered by the Aztecs and made using the female cochineal beetle. A million insects were needed to make one pound of water-soluble extract. Red was introduced to Europe in the 16th century by the Spaniards.
Around 2500, “red lead” was discovered by accident. Demand for white lead increased, and while it occurs naturally, the demand brought about manmade reproductions Vitruvius, a Roman writer, architect, and engineer, describes what white lead production was like in the 2nd century AD. The Dutch greatly increased white lead availability by the 17th century and reduced cost by inventing the “Stack Process,” which is a chemical process that will cast metallic lead as thin buckles, stacks them up and leaves them for four to sixteen weeks, which changes the blue-grey lead to white lead all white lead paints contain chalk in their undercoats; purer white lead is saved for finish coats.
Henry Perkins discovered the first real synthetic dye, “Mauveine,” in 1856. People know realized that many dyes could be made synthetically and relatively cheaply. Linseed oil and pigment-grade zinc oxide or, white paint began being produced from that point on.
Industrialists produced the first washable paint using cast-iron paint mills and zinc-based pigments in the 1870′s; it’s named was “Charlton White.” D.R. Averill of Ohio patented the first ready-mixed paint in 1867, but it didn’t quite catch on.
For ten years, Sherwin Williams tried to perfect a formula in which fine paint particles would remain suspended in linseed oil. In 1880, they finally succeeded when a formula was developed that greatly exceeded the available paint qualities during that time period. Emulsions based on similar formula were then produced and marketed as “oil bound distempers.” New paints became available in tins in 1880, after only a large number of colors and were exported all over the world.
In this day and age, we have thousands of colors available to us. From the Egyptians to today’s painting contractors, colors have never been more fascinating.
Stay awhile and monkey around!