More on old paints

[keith o'connor (tinmangallery.com]

Daniel Smith in the US may have some tubes of genuine ultramarine left.

k

dkra <pottedme...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:pottedmeatproduct...@user-2ivfmls.dialup.mindspring.com..
.
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> I'm prowling Ebay for old paints. Now and then someone will dig an old
> paint box out of his or her attic (usually it's Winsor & Newton, more
> rarely a Reeves) and offer it up.
>
> The color I seek is genuine Indian Yellow, more widely available in the
> late 19th/early 20th century, I think. However, it seems that this isn't
> something that's likely to be found in a paint box with a prearranged set
> of colors, such as those up for auction.
>
> I was fortunate to get hold of an 1883 Winsor & Newton watercolor
> paint/supplies catalog (bound together with two little instruction manuals
> on painting[1]) which gave me a general guide about what colors I'd expect
> to find in such boxes. Even in the deluxe set of colors (30) it isn't
> included. True, I can find such toxic novelties as real vermilion,
> gamboge, and emerald green, but none of the nice Indian Yellow. It seems
> that even in days of yore, it was one of the more expensive colors. In
> this particular catalog, where Winsor & Newton offers its watercolor
> paints in dry cakes, moist pans, and tubes, the dry cakes have the widest
> range of colors in six (6) separate price series. Indian Yellow is Series
> 3 (2 shillings each), and the Genuine Ultramarine is Series 6 (21
> shillings each).
>
> It's still easier to get individual colors of relatively recent
> manufacture. I think someone wanted Violet Carmine, and I saw some
> half-pan of it for sale this week.
>
> -- dkra
>
> [1] Winsor & Newton's
> Bound Hand-Books on the Fine-Arts.
> LANDSCAPE PAINTING[2]
> comprising
> The Art of Landscape Painting in Water Colours (39th ed.),
> and
> A System of Water Colour Painting (44th ed.)
>
> There were no dates on these little manuals, but they were bound together
> in hardcover with the
>
> Winsor & Newton's Catalogue of Colours and Materials
> for Water Colour Painting, Pencil, Chalk, Architectural Drawing, &c, &c.
> Winsor & Newton, Limited
> 38, Rathbone Place, London, W.
> 1883
>
> [2] The title page was signed "Captain W. L. Pitcher, 8 US Infantry" (no
date)
>
> --
> dkraatmmiidotixdotnetcomdotcom
> [Subtract two thousand and (one plus one), plus the "." of course.]

[keith o'connor (tinmangallery.com]

Interesting: I didn't know about the more refined royal blue pigment. At
$70.00 US a 5ml tube I could talk someone into one for an xmas present. I'll
put up a post for Allison and she if she knows about this company.

k
dkra <pottedme...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message

news:pottedmeatproduct...@user-38lc1cq.dialup.mindspring.com..
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> In article <THcK9.104173$Q71.1...@news01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>,

> "keith o'connor (tinmangallery.com" <scot...@rogers.com> wrote:
>
> > Daniel Smith in the US may have some tubes of genuine ultramarine left.
>

> <snip>
>
> Thanks. I have a tube of Daniel Smith's "Genuine Lapis Lazuli" which is a
> light grayish blue, similar to the Ultramarine Ash Blue once sold by
> Winsor & Newton. It is real ultramarine, but not the more refined, really
> expensive royal blue pigment.
>
> Genuine ultramarine, of any grade of refinement, is going to be less
> violet and more gritty than the now-commonly available synthetic
> ultramarine (PB29, sold as Ultramarine Blue and French Ultramarine). It
> has a subtle shimmer.
>
> Someone once told me Corenlissen & Sons (no Web address?) in London sells
> tubes of the refined stuff, but I hear it's about $70 US for a 5-ml tube
> (watercolor paint).
>
> -- dkra