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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c20.s3: Pigments

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c20.s3

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Contents

Pigments

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Pigments are insoluble substances used to give colour or tint to paint and other surface coatings. It is generally distinguished from dye which is soluble and penetrates the tissues of fibres of any organic material (Newman, Vol.I). Pigments contribute to the optical and other properties of paints, finishes and coatings. Pigments for paint should be insoluble in their vehicle and chemically inert to it. They should have good covering or spreading power and clean intense colours. Since they are insoluble in the coating material, they are mechanically mixed with the coating and are deposited when the coating dries up. Their physical properties are not changed by incorporation in and deposition from the vehicle. Pigments may be classified according to composition as organic or inorganic or by source as natural or synthetic. Generally, for all practical purposes the classification may be done by colour or by function (McGraw-Hill, Vol-4). Since the pre-historic days, pigments were used in preparing slips and paints for potteries, for artistic paintings of pictures and portraits, for coating surfaces and walls etc.

Pottery Painting

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Pottery and pottery-painting were practised in India ever since the dawn of civilisation. People in very ancient settlements were well-acquainted with the art of making potteries of burnt clay and painting various designs on them. A large variety of ochres, haematites, pigments and organic colours were used by potters for slipping and painting the pots.

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Archaeologists are of the opinion that various earliest settlements of pre-historic India that have been unearthed represent independent cultures of their own and a classification has been made on the basis of techniques employed in pottery painting. From this is implied that these inhabitants of very early settlements were well-acquainted with the techniques related to pottery making and painting which involved the use of varied pigments for slipping and painting the clay pots.

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The art of painted and polychrome pottery had also developed. Actually, this knowledge of the prehistoric man in making use of different dyes and pigments to beautify objects like potteries and also the simple techniques he adopted for that purpose led to the development of paint technology in India.

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Regarding the pre-historic cultures, archaeologists have given a broad classification as Buff-ware culture and Red-ware culture based on the colours of the potteries found in those settlements. The potteries of the former culture have a buff-body painted over with designs in a purplish brown or black paint. The Amrinal pottery body, generally, is a very fine buff or pink and white slip is frequently applied as a background for painting designs. Polychromic pottery vessels with red, blue, green and yellow paint were also found in this settlement.

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Another series of sites of settlements of pre-historic India representing the Kulli culture is characterized by its painted pottery styles. Clay figurines also have been found here. The painting of the pottery body here is generally of black colour with an occasional use of red or white colour on which designs are also painted.

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The Zhob red-ware culture show more or less a distinctive painted pottery style with a red pottery body. The painting is stylish with red and black designs on the red body of the pots (Ray, pp.1-2).

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During Indus valley civilization potteries were produced on a mass scale on potters' wheel. Though the pottery is for the most part plain, decorated and painted potteries were also made by the Harappan workers. Black geometrical designs were painted on a deep lustrous slip.

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This characteristic of 'red and black' pottery of Harappan civilization is easily recognizable. A few polychrome potteries that have also been unearthed in these sites are painted in green and red on a buff slip. Chemical analysis has revealed that red or solomon colours in these objects are due to the presence of iron components in the clay. The slip of bright red colour found on some potteries is due to ferric oxide. The black and chocolate designs that are found painted on the body owe their colour to oxides of manganese. The colouring agents used by the Indus valley people are used even today by potters. Many of the ancient techniques of selecting and applying colouring materials have come down to the present time also.

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A large variety of ochres, haematites, pigments and organic colours were used by the potters of ancient India as they are done today. As a rule, slip treatment also was given to the pots before they were fired. Slipping serves two purposes it helps in closing the pores and secondly, it provides smooth surfaces helpful in painting a design on them. Slipping was done by dipping the pot after burnishing in a solution or by painting with a solution formed by the finest portion of the clay used for making the pot or of any suitable material. For slip preparation also ochres, pigments or clay were considered as suitable materials.

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The colours of slips used at Mohenjo-daro were buff, cream, pink and red. The first two seem to be natural ones. Lighter pink shades are attributed generally to traces of iron in the clay which on firing threw a pink colour. But the darker pink shades seem to have been produced by the addition of a slight red colouring. Red slips were produced by mixing red ochres with the clay or by using red ochre itself in solution as a slip. Dark red colour of the slips seems to have been derived by the use of red oxide in the slip (Jaggi,I,p. 100). The colours of these slips neither vanish nor fade in firing.

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As of today, in ancient India potters were preparing slips with red or yellow ochres which when applied emit a lustre on the surface. For black and chocolate shades, a manganiferous haematite. was used. Different varieties of ochres and haematites, which are known today by different local names in different parts of India, were made use of for colouring slips, like geru rangamati, dhau, multānimatti, etc. It is said that the manganese oxides frequently associated with ferric oxide give a pure black colour when rich in manganese. If iron in the mixture preponderates it gives a chocolate colour.

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Excavations at Sanci, Taxila and other places also have revealed further information regarding the character of pottery in India from about 500 B.C. to 100 B.C. The body of the potteries of these different sites consist of a finely levigated clay, usually grey but sometimes reddish in sections. This is covered with a brilliantly burnished slip having the quality of a glaze, with colours from jet black to grey, metallic steel blue occasionally varied with reddish brown patches.

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In this context, it is noteworthy that the polished stone surfaces of many of the Sanci stupas were reddened with a translucent stain which has the advantage of not obscuring the texture of the stone or the delicate details of the carvings. Sanci paintings on walls have been found to be made by mixing red ochre with lime-wash to give red or *geruka* (brownish yellow) colour (Ray, pp. 77-78). Red lead or minium has also been found as an ingredient for the application of red paint. Excavations at Arikamedu in the 1st and 2nd century A.D. have brought out potteries with burnished slips and some of them are glazed. The polished bright red slip has been identified as haematite. A slip of ferruginous clay was also applied to some (Ray, p. 83)

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The potteries unearthed from the pre-historic sites like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa and later on at Sanci and other places reveal the fact that people of these ancient days were acquainted with the properties of different colouring materials and pigments. Different varieties of ochres and haematities were used to prepare slips of different shades. The methods of slip preparation also varied from place to place. Most of the potteries found in these settlements were also painted. The technique of painting pots before firing and also painting designs on them after firing was in vogue. Mostly organic colours were used to paint the surfaces. For white pigment, lime, limestone, chalk and rice powder were used. To prepare black pigment, burnt cocoanut shell powder, soot, powdered charcoal, black iron oxide etc. were used.

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During Vedic times and later on, ritual pots were painted with floral and geometrical designs in red, yellow blue and green colours. Vermilion (mercuric sulphide) or *dhau* (ruddle) was used from red pigment, yellow colour was obtained from turmeric or from yellow earth (a kind of ochre), blue from indigo, green from leaves, of particular trees and iron sulphate. Grey was prepared from a kind of haematite, orange pigments were obtained by mixing red and yellow colours. Copper sulphate was mixed with red pigment to obtain purple pigment. Usually these pigments were prepared in plain water.

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Since different types of ochres, haematites, and local mud etc. were used for slips and also for painting the potteries, it is evident that methods like filtration, decantation, rubbing on a slab of granite with water, boiling with some other ingredients like calcium, *khadira* (catechu), soda etc., collecting barks and leaves from particular trees and allowing them to sour by adding rice starch etc. were adopted in preparing the pigments.

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Archaeologists have unearthed another important variety of pottery from the ancient Harappan sites known as faience. It is a vitreous substance with a glazy surface often coloured by the addition of suitable mineral matters (Ray, p.12).

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The painted grey-ware pottery is also well known from 100-400 B.C. approx. It is a thin grey deluxe ware, wheel made, well-burnt, glossy and painted with many decorative motifs.

Tinted Glass

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Even though no glass objects have been recovered from Indus valley areas, in ancient Indian literature there are references to glass and coloured glass articles which give evidence to the manufacture of glass and its use in India as early as 800 B.C. (MV. VIII.3; Cu. V. IX.1; Rām. II 90.27; ÁS II.11). Archaeological evidences also prove that glass beads, bangles, jars, tiles etc. were made from 6th or 5th century B.C. onwards. Most of the glass objects were coloured.

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Glass manufacture which was practised as an indigenous industry in ancient India and particularly in the south is brought to light from excavations at Arikamedu, Uraiyur and other places. Along with this, the technique of colouring glass also developed.

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The glass specimens show that the glass makers of ancient India were highly competent in giving different colours and shades to glass objects. Chemical analysis has revealed that the colouring agents were obtained generally from the metallic ores. Different chemicals added to them finally led to attribute different shades of colours and glazes to the glass objects. Coloured glass was prepared by mixing silicates of soda, lime and appropriate metallic oxides (Jaggi, I p.203). Copper oxide, iron oxide, manganese oxides were generally used to give colours to the glass articles. Different coloured glass beads of the early centuries with yellow matrix covered with green glass were discovered in Nasik, Kolhapur, and some other parts in South India and these are said to be of Satavahana period. A special type of glass beads of 350 A.D. to 750 A.D. found at Ahicchatra is of gold foil glass. Layers of gold foils were poured in between two glass layers. All these prove that craftsmen in ancient India were highly skilful in the sophisticated technique of using metallic ores and chemicals as pigments in colouring very high temperature melting media like glass.

Art Painting

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According to mythological sources it is believed that the principle of art painting was produced in the days of yore by the great sage Nārāyaṇa for the benefit of the world when he created the celestial nymph Urvaśī. The great sage used mango juice to create the beautiful nymph by drawing with it her picture on his thigh. From this painting Urvaśī emerged as a lovely maiden. Thus the first picture of painting was created with mango juice as the colouring material. Through this beautiful picture the sage Nārāyaṇa imparted the principles of perfect portrayal through different colours to Viśvakarma (Vi. Pu, Citrasūtra, 35, 1-5).

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However, leaving aside the mythological episode, the origin of paints dates back to pre-historic times when the people of that early period recorded some of their activities in colours (generally red and black) on the walls of caves. These were only crude earths or clays suspended in water. By about the Vedic period, ancient Indians had a wide number and variety of colours for painting pictures.

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In pre-historic cave painting, *gairika* was used as a pigment and black colour was painted with burnt wood. During Indus valley civilization, white, red, black, yellow, green colours were used. Painting had developed well in Vedic period also even though no specimen is available. Buddhist literature also is replete with references to different types of painting in different colours (*Kus*, 531; *MV*.5.10.3; 8.29). Auditoriums were decorated with beautiful paintings on the wall (*Nāṭ*. 290-291).

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In the Ajaṇtā caves, the paintings in the 9th and 10th caves are said to be created in 1st or 2nd century B.C. Specimens of paintings of Gupta period can be seen in the other caves of Ajaṇtā, Badāmi Bāg, Chittannavāsal in Tamil Nad, and also in the temples of Kanci and Tanjore at South India. In Ajaṇtā paintings extracts of plants and minerals were made use of in preparing pigments. First, the wall of the caves were prepared with a special *lepa* or coating and then the outline of the figure to be painted was drawn with black lines. Ellora mural paintings and Tanjore paintings of the 11th century are very famous for the beautiful depiction of figures in attractive bright colours and tints.

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At Ajaṇtā, Bāg and other caves, the colours most freely used were white, red and brown in various tints, a dull green and also blue. For white colour, sulphate of lime was used. Red and brown tints were obtained from compound of iron. Blue colour was obtained by grinding calcined lapislazuli - a costly semiprecious mineral usually imported. For yellow, the ancient painters used orpiment, a natural arsenic sulphide. In fresco paintings the pigments should be capable of resisting the decomposing action of lime and hence extra attention had to be bestowed upon selection of proper pigments. The fresco paintings testify to the knowledge and skill of the painters in preparing permanent colours out of vegetable and mineral sources.

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In ancient and medieval period, as seen even today, the main doors and entrances of houses were decorated with the figures of Ṣaṣṭī Devatā, Nāga, auspicious motifs like *svastika*, lotus etc. These were done with a paste of *haridrā*. Doorsteps of Hindu homes were decorated with colourful designs drawn with coloured powders called *Raṅgoli*. Red ochre, chalk powder, charcoal, green powder of dried leaves of some plants, *haridrā*, *nīlī* etc. were used for drawing *Raṅgoli*.

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Varāhamihira has referred to the art of painting as *citrakarma* and painters were known as *citrakāra*, *citrajña*, *alekhajña*, etc (*Bṛh. S*. LVII.14; V.74; IX.30; X.10; XVI.12)

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It is declared that among all arts and skills, painting is the foremost. Just as Sumeru is the best among mountains so also painting is the foremost among all arts (*Vi Pu*. II.43.39). This suggests that ancient Indians knew the art of selecting colours and mixing them to achieve different shades. Vātsyāyana has summarised the principles of the art of painting of the 8th century A.D. under six categories amongst which *varṇikabhaṅga* or mixing of colours is one¹⁴.

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From these references it becomes clear that the art of painting was in a highly developed state even in ancient India and that people knew the technique of preparing pigments for painting beautiful pictures and also suitable vehicles or media for the pigments.

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Among the Purāṇas, Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa is valued as an authoritative work on the techniques of different aspects of the art of painting. To begin with, it gives a recipe for preparing a lepa or coating to smoothen the wall before painting a picture on it. It is said that three varieties of brickpowders should be mixed with a third proportion of it with clay. To this should be added fragrant gum-resin (guggula), bees wax (madhucchiṣṭam), honey (madhu), a type of grass (kuṇḍaraka), molasses (guḍam) and safflower (kusumbha) soaked in oil, in equal proportions. Powder of lime three-fourths burnt with bel fruit pulp and lampblack should be added. After adding one-fourth part of sand, the mixture should be soaked in water for a month to make it lubricous. With this paste a smooth and firm coat is applied on the wall (Vi Pu. III.40.1-10).

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White, yellow, red, black and blue, these are the five primary colours and these in different combinations in different proportions produce hundreds of intermediate tones¹⁵. This work gives formulae for different colour compositions also. Blue and yellow when mixed produce green colour. It may be pale with a greater medium of white or deeper with blue. There are three distinct shades of each colour by mixing white in less, equal or greater proportions. Green colour can be obtained by mixing yellow and blue. It may be retained as pure green or it may be made pale green by adding white. The green colour may be made deeper by aggravating blue. Thus, by enhancing or lessening of the colours mixed, many subtle varieties of any colour could be created. Beautiful tints are produced by mixing in calculated proportions different colours. As an example it is said that red lākṣā tint mixed with white like the lodhra flower becomes red like the lotus, a colour extremely charming. Some of the tints produced with one predominant tone are given like yellowish green of durva grass, light wood apple green, green like green pulse, blue like blue lily, and so on.

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The colours mentioned in Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa are of mineral and vegetable dyes like yellow orpiment (haritāla), lime (sudhā), lac (lākṣā), vermilion (hiṅgula), indigo (nīlī), lapislazuli (rājāvarta), red lead (sindura), lead (trapu), lampblack, mica, etc. and several more¹⁶.

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Colours can also be produced from metals in the form of very thin and fine sheets or a liquid. These metals are gold (kanaka), silver (rajata) and copper (tāmra). Metal colours are to be laid in delicately thin sheets or by liquefying them by chemical methods. Hide glue and bakula resin glue act to fix and strengthen the colour for which vermilion juice is also added. Juice of durva grass, bark resin, glue of elephant hides etc. fix and strengthen the colour of the pigments and these cannot be destroyed even when washed.

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Poets like Bāṇa and others have mentioned subtle shades of colours in their literary works. The colours mentioned are not just poetic fancy because works like Viṣṇudharmottara-purāṇa have suggested a myriad by clever combinations of colours in various proportions. Literary works in Sanskrit are replete with references to shades and tints produced by different combinations of colours. Yellow and blue make green while red and blue make purple. Peculiar white of haritāla śaila is different from swan white. Red is found in different tints like that of bandhuka flowers, kuṅkuma red, kusumbha rāga red, blood red like a bunch of ghātaki flowers, sindūra colour of mandāra flowers, mañjiṣṭha red, reddish like the morning sun and so on¹⁷. Likewise, different shades of other colours including black and white are mentioned or suggested in different contexts. All these imply that people in ancient India were highly colour conscious and were able to prepare different paints by combining two or three colour pigments.

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*Silparatna*, *Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi* and *Śivatattva-ratnākara* also are some of the texts which deal with the art of painting, colours, mixing of colours, preparation of pigments etc. All these texts treat the subject more or less in a similar manner without much variation.

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A *citraka* or *citrakāra*, an artist should have perfect knowledge about different colours and know the use of proper colours in the paintings and he should take great care in mixing different colours.¹⁸

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It is said that fresh buffalo hide should be boiled with water. When sticky butter-like paste is formed, it should be made into small pieces and dried till the pieces become hard. This is called *vajralepa* or adamantine which is very useful for painting in two ways - to prepare the coating for the surface to make it smooth and flawless for painting pictures and to prepare the vehicle or media to mix the pigment for painting. Pigments of different colours have to get suspended sometimes with additives so that they could be used as paints. Hence it is said that the above mentioned pieces of *Vajralepa* should be placed in strong mud vessel filled with water and then heated. When they get melted they may be added to any colouring pigment proportionately to get a particular desired shade. Adding soft white sand and conch powder to this *vajralepa*, the wall or the surface should be smeared with this paste and allowed to dry three times till it becomes smooth and glossy. Then the moon-white mineral called *nāga* found in Nilagiri, embedded in rock should be mixed with this *vajralepa*. This mixture should be applied on the surface of the wall slowly and gently. The wall then becomes ready for painting beautiful pictures (*Siv. R.* VI.2.10-18).

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From the recipe of *vajralepa* given above we can gather that the technology of surface painting and wall painting in different colours was advanced and that people were efficient in selecting and preparing the proper vehicle also for the pigments. Conch powder and a special white mineral called *nāga* found on the Nilagiri were used for preparing white pigments.

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Different methods of preparing this *vajralepa* paste are given in different treatises (*Vi. Pu.* III.40; *Sam. Sū.* 72; *ŚR.* 46.131,132; *Bṛh S.* *Vajralepa* lakṣaṇādhyāya 1-3, 5-8.).

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Generally six primary colours are mentioned in the ancient texts. They are white, red, yellow, blue, green and black (*ŚR.* 64.27; *Vi. Pu.* III.27.8; *Śiv R.* VI. 2. 33, 34). *Sveta* (white), *śona* (red), *pīta* (yellow), *kṛṣṇa* (black), *nīla* (blue), *harita* (green). The use of conch powder is recommended for white colour.

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Three kinds of red colour are distinguished and they are *śona*, *rakta*, and *lohita*. *Darada* (red lead) is advised for reddish brown, *ālaktaka* (red sap) for blood red and *gairika* (red chalk) for dark red. *Haritāla* (yellow orpiment) is prescribed for yellow colour and *kajjala* (lampblack) for black colour.¹⁹

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*Miśravaṛṇa* or mixed colours are also enumerated in some of the texts which are attained by mixing two or three colouring materials or pigments. Red lead mixed with white conch powder gives the colour of red lotus. Red lac mixed with conchpowder gives the colour of boraśva (golden brown). Honey colour is obtained by mixing red chalk with conch powder. Haritāla and śankha were mixed to give the shade of boraśva. Lampblack with conch powder gives a smoky grey colour. Indigo (nīlī) mixed with conch white gives pigeon grey colour. Rājāvarta with conch powder gives the tint of atasīpuṣpa. Indigo with yellow orpiment becomes green. Red chalk when mixed with yellow orpiment becomes lighter in shade. Lampblack mixed with red chalk takes a darker shade. Lampblack with lac attains pink colour and with indigo attains violet colour (Śiv. R. VI.2. 35-41).

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Probably all these pigments were locally prepared and were easily available in those days.

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Metals like gold and silver were also used as colouring materials. The method of preparing gold pigment is mentioned. Gold ore should be pounded well on a stone and adding water to it in a glass container or in a bronze one, it should be shaken slowly again and again. While shaking, the water should be removed by stages until all the dusty particles are removed.

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Finally, only the gold dust will remain in the container because of its weight. This paste of gold should be mixed with the vajralepa and should be used to paint ornaments and other decorations in the picture (Śiv R. VI.2.48-52; ŚR. 45.123-30).

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In all these texts dealing with the art of painting, the term vartika is used which generally means a brush or pencil. But in these texts they are used to connote a crayon or pastel for drawing. We come across the words tiṇḍukavarti and kiṭṭavarti with which the outline of a picture is drawn and they are distinguished as a twig of a special variety of ebony and a black secretion with carbon and prepared as a roll or pastille or varti for sketching (Śiv. R. Vi.2.28).

Surface coatings

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There are references in many of our ancient texts to prove that paints were used as surface coating to walls, pillars, etc. (Śiv. R. VI.2.2-4)

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A paint meant for surface coating also is a mixture of opaque solids dispersed in a liquid medium which is used as a protective or decorative coating for surfaces which dry up by the oxidation and evaporation of portions of its components. Hence as paints are mechnical mixtures, the pigments and extenders are carried or suspended in the vehicle. The vehicle also should be a film- forming oil to which other liquids are added in varying amounts (Shreve, p.495). Hence the technique of preparing pigments from different colouring agents involved an arduous process of selecting suitable diluents or thinners, vehicles, etc. Moreover, specific requirements of the paints had to be taken into consideration such as colour, hiding (obliteration), weather resistance, washability, gloss, metal anti-corrosive properties and consistency as related to the mode of application like brushing, dipping etc. No doubt, people were highly skilled in these techniques as it is clear from several descriptions of painted walls, śikharas and gopuras or palaces and mansions in many literary texts.

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