We have a nice range of Natural Pigments' rare and historical pigments. Including som "specialities in jars of ten grams, for example great blues: Azurite (Fine), Lazurite (Lapis Lazuli), Vivianite. Blue Verditer, Blue Bice, Royal Smalt, Egyptian Blue.

Pigment descriptions from Natural Pigments

Maya Blue, developed by the Maya who ruled Mesoamerica from about 290 to 900 C.E., is a remarkable pigment based on a blue dye precipitated onto clay. The blue is perhaps the most striking color used by Maya artists, a color so extraordinary that it generated much research and debate among scientists for more than 50 years. What is particularly interesting about Maya Blue is that, despite long exposure to light and high humidity for centuries, it hardly fades. Its unprecedented stability, defies exposure to alkalies, acids and chemical solvents. Maya Blue is a mixture of both inorganic (palygorskite clay) and organic (blue dye) elements—no known organic pigments today can come close to the stability of Maya Blue over so many years.

Prussian Blue, discovered in 1704 or 1705, is generally regarded as the first of the modern colors. In truth it is something of an anomaly, appearing well before the blossoming of chemistry as a science in the late eighteenth century. Like so many other innovations in color, it was the result of a serendipitous accident.

Ultramarine Blue (Green Shade) is the greenest shade of ultramarine blue we could find, a synthetic inorganic blue pigment consisting of a double silicate of aluminum and sodium with sulfide and occurs in nature as a component of the semi-precious stone, lapis lazuli.

Verona Green Earth is the mineral glauconite, a greenish earth of hydrated iron potassium silicate. Highly prized by painters, our Verona Green is a cool bright green earth from open mines near Mt. Baldo, Italy.

Antica Green Earth is the mineral glauconite, a greenish earth of hydrated iron potassium silicate. Antica Green Earth is an olive green from quarries near Verona, Italy.

Tavush Green Earth is a green earth (glauconite) pigment from mineral deposits in Armenia.

Yellow Ocher Light is from ocher deposits in the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel nested in a 12 mile long enclave in the heart of the Luberon Mountains, the ocher country.

Yellow Ocher JCL is from ocher deposits in the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel nested in a 12 mile long enclave in the heart of the Luberon Mountains, the ocher country.

Limonite is yellow earth pigment from a natural mixture of minerals obtained in Cyprus. Limonite is not a true mineral but a mixture of similar hydrated iron oxide minerals. Limonite is mostly made up of the mineral goethite.

Ambrogio Yellow Earth is a natural goethite mineral from quarries in northern Italy. It is a deep yellow that is semi-transparent, permanent and works well in all mediums.

Blue Ridge Yellow Ocher is a yellow iron oxide earth pigment from a natural mixture of minerals obtained from deposits in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, USA.

Armenian Gold Ocher is a yellow iron oxide earth pigment from a natural mixture of minerals from the Kotayk deposits of Armenia. Yellow ocher is not a true mineral but a mixture of similar hydrated iron oxide minerals.

Hrazdan Yellow Ocher is a yellow iron oxide earth pigment from a natural mixture of minerals from the Kotayk deposits of Armenia. Yellow ocher is not a true mineral but a mixture of similar hydrated iron oxide minerals.

Luberon Orange Ocher is from ocher deposits in the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel nested in a 12 mile long enclave in the heart of the Luberon Mountains, the ocher country.

Apt red iron oxide is from the last remaining company operating the ocher deposits in the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel nested in a 12 mile long enclave in the heart of the Luberon Mountains, the ocher country.

Pink Pipestone, is a pink clay from Minnesota; the clay stone was carved by Native Americans into pipes and also used as a pigment.

Blue Ridge Red Oxide, is a natural red iron oxide from the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The high iron content (over 80%) makes it a strong tinting pigment.

Pozzuoli Red is a natural earth containing clay tinted by iron oxide that gives an exceptionally warm orange-red hue. Our Pozzuoli red, like French ocher, contains about 20% iron oxide and is low in silica. Pozzuoli red is obtained from iron ore deposits near Pozzuoli, Italy.

Armenian Crimson Ocher is an iron oxide of a crimson red hue. We make our hematite from iron ore deposits in the Lori province of Armenia. It is a lustrous pigment of considerable tinting strength and opacity.

Luberon Raw Sienna is an iron oxide earth pigment that resembles yellow ocher. Unlike yellow ocher, which generally are opaque, sienna earths are more translucent and warmer. From deposits in the Luberon Mountains of southern France.

Luberon Burnt Sienna is an iron oxide earth pigment that resembles red ocher. Unlike ochers, which generally are opaque, sienna earths are more translucent and warmer. When sienna earth is calcined (roasted) at high temperatures, it loses its water content (hydration) and it becomes burnt sienna.

Luberon Raw Umber is a natural mineral from southern France that is a yellowish-brown pigment for use in tempera, oil and watercolor mediums, obtained from natural earths colored by the oxides of iron and manganese. This raw umber is from the last remaining European companies operating the ochre deposits in the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel nestled in a 12 mile long enclave in the heart of the Luberon Mountains.

Luberon Burnt Umber is a calcined natural mineral that is a dark reddish brown mineral pigment with a yellowish to greenish undertone for use in all mediums. The pigment is obtained from natural earths colored by the oxides of iron and manganese from the last remaining European company operating the ochre deposits in the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel nestled in a 12 mile long enclave in the heart of the Luberon Massif of southern France.

Gilsonite, Asphaltum, Bitumen. A transparent brown to black-brown mineral pigment used in tempera, oil and watercolor mediums, obtained from natural deposits in Utah.

Vicenza Earth is buff white to tan colored earwith a subtle, warm hue and low opacity. Use it is a useful glazing color to impart warmth to cooler tones. It also provides a delicate cloudiness that can help to soften focus and articulate a sense of space.

Titanium dioxide pigment is a fine white powder. When used in paints, it provides for maximum whiteness and opacity. It gives paint high hiding power, meaning the ability to mask or hide the substrate underneath. It does this more effectively than any other white pigment. Today, titanium dioxide pigment is by far the most important material used by the paints industry for whiteness and opacity. These unique properties are derived from the refractive index of titanium dioxide. The refractive index expresses the ability to bend and scatter light. Titanium dioxide has the highest refractive index of any material known to man, greater even than diamond. To take advantage of this property, titanium dioxide must be mined, refined and ground to a fine, uniform particle size.

Titanium-Calcium White is a white pigment with high resistance to alkali that can replace titanium dioxide and lithopone in many applications. It is rutile titanium dioxide coated with precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). Titanium dioxide and precipitated calcium carbonate are mixed together in an aqueous phase, which causes the titanium dioxide pigment particles to become coated with particles of precipitated calcium carbonate.
It is used in coatings, plastics and inks where high brightness and good covering power is required. It can be used with all vehicles (gums, proteins, vegetable oils, synthetic resins, vinyl, acrylic, etc.). The presence of titanium dioxide in the pigment's composition gives it good covering power. The pigment is environmentally friendly and not considered to be toxic.

Zinc oxide, more commonly known as zinc white, is a synthetic white pigment with good hiding power, nontoxic, permanent, and usable in most medium.

Bianco di San Giovanni . Cennino Cennini uses the name "Bianco di San Giovanni" to describe the preparation of a white lime pigment in his book Il Libro dell’Arte. He does not explain the name used for this lime white, and it is probable therefore, this important white pigment was in use by artists before Cennini's time. D. V. Thompson says it gets its name after the patron saint of Florence.

Bianco di San Giovanni is a pigment of inorganic, natural mineral origin from limestone (calcium carbonate) deposits. Not to be confused with simple lime white or chalk, Bianco di San Giovanni, as Cennino Cennini reports, is dried lime which is reduced to powder and then immersed in the water for eight days that is changed each day. It is then made into small cakes that are left to dry in the sun. It is then grounded finely.

Natural black iron oxide is from the French quarries of Gargas and Rustrel in the heart of the Luberon Massif. It is cool to neutral in undertone, wets easily, and is non-greasy, compared to carbon blacks.

Lamp black is a type of carbon black obtained from the soot of burned fat, oil, tar, or resin. Lamp black is a soft brownish- or bluish-black pigment that is very stable and unaffected by light, acids and alkalis. Our lamp black is of high purity made in modern oil furnaces. Due to the particle size, when applied full strength a brownish undertone is generated, while in mixed with white in gray tints, a more bluish undertone appears.

Cassel earth is a pigment of a deep semi-transparent brown color, supposed to be the color used by Rubens and Anthony Van Dyke in their paintings. Rublev Colours Cassel Earth is imported from Germany.

Slate is mainly composed of the minerals quartz and muscovite or illite, often along with biotite, chlorite, hematite, and pyrite and, less frequently apatite, graphite, kaolinite, magnetite, tourmaline, or zircon as well asfeldspar. Occasionally, as in the purple slates of North Wales, ferrous reduction spheres form around iron nuclei, leaving a light green spotted texture. These spheres are sometimes deformed by a subsequent applied stress field to ovoids, which appear as ellipses when viewed on a cleavage plane of the specimen.