Pigments through the Ages

              
/ krome   yel • low /
Chrome yellow
 
 
   

     
 

  1.  Overview  
  2. History
of use
 
  3. Making the
pigment
 
  4. Technical
details
 
  
  History of Chrome yellow:   
        
 

A painted swatch of Chrome yellow:

In 1797 a Parisian chemist, Louis Nicholas Vauquelin isolated natural lead chromate (chrocoite) and called it chrome because of the range of hues that could be derived from it. He named it after the Greek word xpwua, meaning color. The preparation of chromates of lead, specifically chrome yellow was published by Vauquelin in the Annales de Chimie IXX in 1809.
The chrome colors were in use by 1816 but on a limited basis. In 1820, a substantial source of chrome ore was found in North America and large scale production began, j. J. White of Rutherglen, Scotland is known to have produced chrome colors that year. Their excellent hiding power and low cost made them a welcomed alternative to Turner's Patent yellow and orpiment. Chrome yellow cost one shilling per watercolor cake in 1835.Chrome pigments were fast drying in oil and more permanent in oil than in watercolor. The darker shades were more permanent than the lighter ones that tended to fade when exposed to sunlight. The darker shades were known to brown over time). All chrome colors were blackened by sulfur-bearing air and the yellow variety sometimes would turn green when mixed with organic pigments.

  When was Chrome yellow used?   
        
Discovery:    
 Used until:
 
1803 or 1804  
continues in use  

    

Use of Chrome yellow among paintings in the SchackGallery, Munich:

Source: Kühn


Other yellows        
(intro) - - cadmium yellow - chrome yellow - Cobalt yellow - Indian yellow      
lead tin yellow - Lemon yellow - Naples yellow - Orpiment - Orpiment - Yellow ochre        

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