COMMERCIAL & REFERENCE CATEGORY
Historical & natural pigments
Mineral and historically significant colourants for conservation, restoration and specialist manufacture. Several historical pigments carry genuine toxicity, handling or regulatory constraints. We treat that as part of the specification rather than a footnote: each material below states its status, and where a hazardous pigment is not appropriate we identify the modern equivalent.
SAFETY NOTICE
Some historical pigments contain lead, arsenic, mercury or chromium compounds. Where such materials are supplied at all, they are supplied only to professional users, with the manufacturer’s safety data sheet, and subject to the regulatory requirements applicable at the destination.
| PIGMENT | COMPOSITION | STATUS | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural ultramarine | Lazurite (from lapis lazuli) | SOURCING ENQUIRY | Scarce and labour-intensive to purify; synthetic ultramarine is the practical substitute for most work |
| Azurite | Basic copper carbonate | SOURCING ENQUIRY | Can alter in some binders; conservation use requires compatibility assessment |
| Malachite | Basic copper carbonate | SOURCING ENQUIRY | Particle size strongly affects hue and covering power |
| Ochres & earths | Iron oxide minerals with clay | AVAILABLE FOR ENQUIRY | Stable, lightfast and the most practical historical family for volume work |
| Verdigris | Copper acetate compounds | REFERENCE ONLY | Historically important; chemically reactive and rarely appropriate for new work |
| Cinnabar / vermilion | Mercury sulphide | REFERENCE ONLY | Toxic. Discussed for documentation purposes; modern cadmium-free reds substitute |
| Lead-tin yellow | Lead stannate | REFERENCE ONLY | Lead compound. Educational and analytical context only |
| Realgar / orpiment | Arsenic sulphides | REFERENCE ONLY | Arsenic compounds. Identification and conservation literature only |
STATUS VALUES DESCRIBE HOW WE HANDLE AN ENQUIRY, NOT STOCK LEVELS. “REFERENCE ONLY” MEANS WE DISCUSS THE MATERIAL EDUCATIONALLY AND DO NOT OFFER IT COMMERCIALLY.
Where BADAR is useful, and where it is not
Conservators buying jars are already well served by specialist artists’-materials houses that have spent decades building those ranges. We are not trying to replace them, and if that is your requirement we will say so.
Architectural and heritage restoration at project scale
Lime washes, earth-pigment renders and mineral paints for a facade, a church interior or a listed building, where the quantity is kilograms to tonnes rather than grams and the colour has to hold across the whole elevation.
Manufacturers using traditional colourants in production
Ceramics, glass, plaster, historic-pattern paint ranges and traditional finishes made commercially. Here the requirement is a repeatable grade with documentation, not a one-off jar.
Substitution when the historical material is not permissible
Analysis identifies a lead, mercury or arsenic pigment and the work still has to be done. We investigate the modern equivalent that matches appearance and behaviour without the regulated substance.
Quantities a conservation supplier does not carry
When a project needs more natural ochre, more mineral green or more lime-compatible colourant than a retail range holds, the question becomes a sourcing problem rather than a shopping one. That is ours.
IF YOU NEED A SMALL CONSERVATION QUANTITY
A specialist artists’ and conservation materials supplier will almost always serve you faster and cheaper than we can, and several of them make historical pigments to documented recipes. Come to us when the quantity, the documentation or the regulatory position turns it into a procurement problem.
Why some of these are reference only
The table above separates materials we will investigate commercially from materials we discuss but do not offer. That line is drawn on substance, not on squeamishness.
Several pigments that defined historical painting are built on lead, mercury or arsenic compounds. Their hazards are established and are the reason they left general use; they are not a matter of opinion. Where a pigment of that kind is identified in an object, the useful commercial question is almost never “can we buy more of it” but “what may lawfully and safely be used in the intervention, and what will match”.
Restrictions on substances of this kind sit in REACH Annex XVII. The obligations that apply to a given substance depend on the substance, the intended use, the quantity and the destination country, and they change. We check the current position for the specific material in an enquiry and tell you what it means commercially. We do not publish legal conclusions, and we are not a regulatory consultancy — responsibility for compliance in your own work stays with you and with whoever specifies the intervention.
Where a material is supplied at all, it goes to professional users with the manufacturer’s safety data sheet, and only where the requirements at the destination permit it.
What to send with a historical pigment enquiry
1 · The pigment, and how you identified it
A name, a Colour Index reference, or the analysis the identification came from. Historical pigment names are notoriously unstable across languages and centuries, so the evidence matters more than the label.
2 · The object and the intervention
What is being treated, whether the work is conservation, restoration, reconstruction or new manufacture, and whether reversibility or authenticity of materials is a requirement of the brief.
3 · The binder or medium
Lime, silicate, casein, egg, oil, gum or a modern dispersion. Several of these pigments behave very differently by medium — copper greens in particular — so this often decides whether a material is usable at all.
4 · Particle size and hue expectation
For mineral pigments the grind decides the colour. A coarse azurite and a fine azurite are different colours in practice, so say which end of the range you need, or send a reference.
5 · Quantity, and whether a substitute is acceptable
Grams, kilograms or tonnes, and whether the brief permits a modern equivalent. If substitution is allowed the field of options widens enormously; if it is not, say so and we will investigate the narrow route.
6 · Destination and documentation
Delivery country, and which documents the project requires. For a regulated substance the destination changes what is possible, not merely what it costs.
Frequent questions
Can you supply genuine lapis-based ultramarine?
It is a sourcing enquiry rather than a catalogue item. Natural ultramarine is scarce, labour-intensive to purify and priced accordingly, and for most work synthetic ultramarine is the practical material. Tell us whether the brief actually requires the natural pigment and we will investigate on that basis.
Will you supply cinnabar, lead-tin yellow or orpiment?
No. Those are listed as reference only. They are discussed here because conservators need to identify and document them, not because we offer them. Where such a pigment is identified in an object we will help you find what can legitimately be used instead.
Can you find a modern equivalent for a historical colour?
That is the most common request in this category. Send the analysis or a reference and we investigate materials that match the appearance and the behaviour in your medium, and we state clearly where the substitute differs — in hue, in handling, or in how it will age.
What quantities can you handle?
The useful range starts where a conservation supplier stops. Minimum order is set by the manufacturer or the route rather than by us, and is confirmed against the specific material before we quote.
Do you provide safety data sheets?
Yes, from the manufacturer for the material supplied. For this category in particular we recommend reading it before ordering rather than after, and we will send it in advance on request.
Do you sell to individual artists?
We work with businesses and institutions. For individual practice a specialist artists’ materials supplier is the better route, and we would rather point you there than take an order that does not suit you.
How long does a historical pigment enquiry take?
It is usually the slowest category we handle, because scarce mineral pigments are produced in campaigns rather than held, and confirming what exists means asking a small number of specialist producers. We come back with what we find, including when the answer is that nothing suitable is currently obtainable. Where a project has a fixed date, tell us at the enquiry — for this category the timing, not the price, is normally what decides feasibility.
Conservation and restoration enquiries
Tell us the object, the binder system, the analytical evidence you are working from and the quantity. We will state what is obtainable and what should be substituted.