mummy brown

File:Félix Bonfils - Mumienhändler.png)]]

File:A nomenclature of colors for naturalists - and compendium of useful knowledge for ornithologists. (1886) (14777665391).jpg

Before "mummy brown" was used as a pigment, Egyptian mummies had a reputation for medicinal qualities. People used materials derived from mummies to treat a wide range of medical complaints, from toothaches to dysentery.McCouat, Philip, [http://www.artinsociety.com/the-life-and-death-of-mummy-brown.html "The life and death of Mummy Brown"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014184441/http://www.artinsociety.com/the-life-and-death-of-mummy-brown.html|date=2013-10-14}}, Journal of Art in Society

The exact start of the use of mummy brown is unclear. A 1594 document mentions it but it credits a document dating back to the 12th century.{{cite book |last=Pringle |first=Heather |title=The Mummy Congress |publisher=Fourth Estate |publication-place=London |date=2002 |isbn=978-1-84115-112-0 |page=201}} The pigment was made from the flesh of Egyptian mummies or Guanche mummies of Canary Islands (both human and feline),{{Cite book |last1=Vallvé |first1=David Sentinella |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbhA4J9aHTQC&q=momificacion+guanche&pg=PT53 |title=El enigma de las momias: Claves históricas del arte de la momificación en las antiguas civilizaciones |year=2010 |publisher=Ediciones Nowtilus |isbn=978-8497633468 |edition=Ediciones Nowtilus S.L. |language=es |access-date=2019-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009171812/https://books.google.com/books?id=pbhA4J9aHTQC&pg=PT53&lpg=PT53&dq=momificacion+guanche&hl=en |archive-date=2020-10-09 |url-status=live}}Godfraind-De Becker, Anne. Utilisations des momies de l'antiquité à l'aube du XXe siècle. Revue des questions scientifiques, 2010, vol. 181, no. 3, pp. 305–340. https://www.unamur.be/sciences/philosoc/revueqs/textes-en-ligne/RQS_181_3momies.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505012147/https://www.unamur.be/sciences/philosoc/revueqs/textes-en-ligne/RQS_181_3momies.pdf|date=2019-05-05}} mixed with white pitch and myrrh.{{cite web |last=Tom |first=Scott |date=18 March 2019 |title=The Library of Rare Colors |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rApTzWboLrA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508042304/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rApTzWboLrA |archive-date=8 May 2019 |access-date=8 May 2019 |via=YouTube}}{{cite book |last=Adeline |first=Jules |url=https://archive.org/details/adelineartdictio00adel |title=The Adeline Art Dictionary |author2=Hugo G. Beigel |publisher=F. Ungar Pub. Co |year=1966 |url-access=registration}} The earliest record of the use of mummy brown dates back to 1712 when an artist supply shop called "À la momie" in Paris sold paints, varnish, and powdered mummy. In 1797, a Compendium of Colours published in London proclaimed that the finest brown used as a glaze by Benjamin West, the president of the Royal Academy, "is the flesh of mummy, the most fleshy are the best parts."{{Cite book |last=Finlay |first=Victoria |title=The Brilliant History of Color in Art |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |year=2014 |isbn=978-1606064290 |location=Los Angeles, CA |pages=81–82}}

The pigment was popular from the mid-eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries. However, the demand for mummy brown sometimes exceeded the available supply of true Egyptian mummies, leading to occasional substitution of contemporary corpses of enslaved people or criminals.{{Rp|page=254}} In aftermath of the French revolution the hearts of French kings were taken from the then Abbey of Saint-Denis and used to make paint.{{cite book |last=Pringle |first=Heather |title=The Mummy Congress |publisher=Fourth Estate |publication-place=London |date=2002 |isbn=978-1-84115-112-0 |page=203}} By 1849, it was described as being "quite in vogue."

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, mummy brown began to fall out of popularity. Fresh supplies of mummies diminished, and artists were less satisfied with the pigment's permanence and finish.{{Rp|page=255}}{{cite book |last=Church |first=A. H. |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125003368558 |title=The Chemistry of Paints and Painting |publisher=Seeley and Co. |year=1901 |location=London |oclc=}} The Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones was reported to have ceremonially buried his tube of mummy brown in his garden when he discovered its true origins.{{Rp|page=255}} According to Georgiana Burne-Jones, "Edward scouted the idea of the pigment having anything to do with a mummy − said the name must be only borrowed to describe a particular shade of brown," but after being assured by fellow painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema, who saw a mummy in his colourman workshop before it was ground up, Edward insisted on giving his only tube of mummy brown a "decent burial there and then."{{sfn|Burne-Jones|1906|page=114}}

By 1915, demand for mummy brown had slowed so much that one London colourman claimed he could satisfy his customers' requests for twenty years from a single Egyptian mummy.{{Cite news |date=1964-10-02 |title=The Passing of Mummy Brown |newspaper=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940544,00.html |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123042959/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940544,00.html |archive-date=2008-11-23}} By the start of the 20th century, mummy brown had largely ceased production in its traditional form due to a continued decline in the supply of available mummies as well as a significant drop in demand.{{Rp|page=255}}

Today, mummy brown cannot be bought from any paint shop. In 1964, Time magazine reported that the sole distributor of the pigment, London colourmaker C. Roberson, had run out of mummies a few years prior.{{Rp|page=82}} A tube of mummy brown pigment purchased from Roberson in early 1900s is on display at the Forbes Pigment Collection of the Harvard Art Museum.{{Cite web |last=R. Leopoldina Torres |title=A Pigment from the Depths {{!}} Index Magazine {{!}} Harvard Art Museums |url=https://harvardartmuseums.org/article/a-pigment-from-the-depths |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=harvardartmuseums.org |language=en}}

Ancient mummy brown is a rich brown pigment with a warm vibrancy. The colour is intermediate in tint between burnt umber and raw umber.{{Cite web |title=The corpse on the canvas: the story of 'mummy brown' paint {{!}} Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-corpse-on-the-canvas-the-story-of-mummy-brown-paint |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=artuk.org |language=en}} It has good transparency. It could be used in oil paint and watercolour for glazing, shadows, flesh tones, and shading.

The modern equivalent sold as "mummy brown" is composed of a mixture of kaolin, quartz, goethite, and hematite, with the hematite and goethite (generally 60% of the content) determining the colour. The more hematite, the redder the pigment, while the others are inert substances that can vary the opacity or tinting strength.{{cite web| title =Mummy Brown| publisher =naturalpigments.com| url =http://www.naturalpigments.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=460-22S| access-date =2008-02-08| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20040816025813/http://www.naturalpigments.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=460-22S| archive-date =2004-08-16}} The colour of mummy brown can vary from yellow to red to dark violet, the latter usually called "mummy violet".

Mummy brown exhibits poor permanence. It fades easily and cracks when used alone.{{Cite web |last=Eveleth |first=Rose |author-link=Rose Eveleth |title=Ground Up Mummies Were Once an Ingredient in Paint |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ground-mummies-were-once-ingredient-paint-180950350/ |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}} However, when mixed with oil paints, it dries and the tendency to crack is diminished. It was also extremely variable in its composition and quality, and since it contained ammonia and particles of fat, it was likely to affect other colors it was used with.{{cite book |last=Field |first=George |title=Field's Chromatography |date=2008 |publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC |isbn=978-1434669612 |pages=254–255}}

File:Martin Drolling - Interior of a Kitchen - WGA6678.jpg's Interior of a Kitchen is believed to have been painted with an extensive use of mummy brown]]

Many artists, including Eugène Delacroix, William Beechey, Edward Burne-Jones, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and Martin Drolling, are thought to have used mummy brown in their palettes. However, few works have been tested for its presence because the process is destructive.

Some popular paintings included in previous articles and research papers are thought to have been painted with mummy brown based on their visual characteristics. Examples include the Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon by Edward Burne-Jones, Interior of a Kitchen by Martin Drolling, and Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix.

File:Eugène Delacroix - Le 28 Juillet. La Liberté guidant le peuple.jpg' Liberty Leading the People is claimed to have been painted with mummy brown because Delacroix was "known to have used pigment made from ground mummy." ]]

File:Burne-Jones Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon v2.jpg' Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon was probably drawn using mummy brown]]

• Caput mortuum (pigment), a pigment also known as cardinal purple
• Mummia, a medicinal preparation sometimes made from mummies

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• {{cite book |last1=Burne-Jones |first1=Georgiana |title=Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones |date=1906 |publisher=Macmillan Co. |location=New York, NY |url=https://archive.org/details/memorialsedward01burngoog/page/114/mode/2up}}
• {{cite book|last=Eastaugh|first=Nicholas|title=Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary of Historical Pigments|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann|year=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/pigmentcompendiu00east_788/page/n93 81]|url=https://archive.org/details/pigmentcompendiu00east_788|url-access=limited|isbn=978-0-7506-5749-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Church|first=A. H.|title=The Chemistry of Paints and Painting|publisher=Seeley and Co.|year=1901|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125003368558}}
• {{cite book|last=Mayer|first=Ralph|title=A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques|publisher=Harper and Row Publishers|year=1945|location=New York|isbn= |oclc= }}{{ISBN?}}

Category:Iron oxide pigments

Category:Pigments

Category:Shades of brown

Category:Mummies