Ochre

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Red ochre
)
Ochre
 
CIELChuv (L, C, h)
(58, 87, 37°)
Sourcecolorxs.com/color
ISCC–NBS descriptorDeep orange
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
Ochre pigment

Ochre (

ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand.[1] It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced by this pigment, especially a light brownish-yellow.[2][3] A variant of ochre containing a large amount of hematite
, or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known as red ochre (or, in some dialects, ruddle).

The word ochre also describes clays coloured with iron oxide derived during the extraction of tin and copper.[4]

Earth pigments

Ochre is a family of earth pigments, which includes yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna, and umber. The major ingredient of all the ochres is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, known as limonite, which gives them a yellow colour. A range of other minerals may also be included in the mixture:[5]: 134 

Yellow ochre (Goldochre) pigment
  • Yellow ochre, FeO(OH)·nH
    2
    O
    , is a
    iron hydroxide
    (limonite) also called gold ochre.
  • Red ochre, Fe
    2
    O3·nH
    2
    O
    , takes its reddish colour from the mineral hematite, which is an iron oxide, reddish brown when hydrated.[6]
  • Purple ochre is a rare variant identical to red ochre chemically but of a different hue caused by different light diffraction properties associated with a greater average particle size.
  • Brown ochre, also FeO(OH), (goethite), is a partly hydrated iron oxide. Simiarly, lepidocrocite — γ-FeO(OH),[7]: 236  a secondary mineral, a product of the oxidation of iron ore minerals, found in brown iron ores
  • Sienna contains both limonite and a small amount of manganese oxide (less than 5%), which makes it darker than ochre.
  • Umber pigments contain a larger proportion of manganese (5-20%), which makes them a dark brown.[8]

When natural sienna and umber pigments are heated, they are dehydrated and some of the limonite is transformed into hematite, giving them more reddish colours, called burnt sienna and burnt umber. Ochres are non-toxic and can be used to make an oil paint that dries quickly and covers surfaces thoroughly. Modern ochre pigments often are made using synthetic iron oxide. Pigments which use natural ochre pigments indicate it with the name PY-43 (Pigment yellow 43) on the label, following the Colour Index International system.

  • Limonite, a mineraloid containing iron hydroxide, is the main ingredient of all the ochre pigments.
    Limonite, a mineraloid containing iron hydroxide, is the main ingredient of all the ochre pigments.
  • Hematite is a more reddish variety of iron oxide, and is the main ingredient of red ochre.
    Hematite is a more reddish variety of iron oxide, and is the main ingredient of red ochre.
  • Pure manganese dioxide
    Pure manganese dioxide
  • Burnt and raw sienna. When limonite is roasted, it turns partially to the more reddish hematite and becomes red ochre or burnt sienna.
    Burnt and raw sienna. When limonite is roasted, it turns partially to the more reddish hematite and becomes red ochre or burnt sienna.
  • Raw umber; the higher manganese oxide content makes it darker
    Raw umber; the higher manganese oxide content makes it darker
  • The clay hills of Roussillon, Vaucluse, in Provence have been an important source of ochre pigment since the 18th century.
    The clay hills of Roussillon, Vaucluse, in Provence have been an important source of ochre pigment since the 18th century.
  • Three shades of ochre; naturally-occurring ochre is often a mix of minerals
    Three shades of ochre; naturally-occurring ochre is often a mix of minerals
  • A broad range of colours can be created with naturally-occurring or human-blended mixtures of these minerals.
    A broad range of colours can be created with naturally-occurring or human-blended mixtures of these minerals.

Historical use in art and culture

Prehistory

Over recent decades, red ochre has played a pivotal role in discussions about the cognitive and cultural evolution of early modern humans during the African Middle Stone Age. In Africa, evidence for the processing and use of red ochre pigments has been dated by archaeologists to around 300,000 years ago, the climax of the practice coinciding broadly with the emergence of Homo sapiens.[9][10] Evidence of ochre's use in Australia is more recent, dated to 50,000 years ago, while new research has uncovered evidence in Asia that is dated to 40,000 years ago.[11]

A re-examination of artifacts uncovered in 1908 at Le Moustier rock shelters in France has identified Mousterian stone tools that were attached to grips made of ochre and bitumen. The grips were formulated with 55% ground goethite ochre and 45% cooked liquid bitumen to create a mouldable putty that hardened into handles. Earlier excavations at Le Moustier prevent conclusive identification of the archaeological culture and age, but the European Mousterian style of these tools suggests they are associated with Neanderthals during the late Middle Paleolithic, between 60,000 and 35,000 years before present. It is the earliest evidence of compound adhesive use in Europe.

Pieces of ochre engraved with abstract designs have been found at the site of the Blombos Cave in South Africa, dated to around 75,000 years ago.[12] In Wales, the paleolithic burial called the Red Lady of Paviland from its coating of red ochre has been dated to around 33,000 years before present. Paintings of animals made with red and yellow ochre pigments have been found in paleolithic sites at Pech Merle in France (ca. 25,000 years old), and the cave of Altamira in Spain (c. 16,500–15,000 BC). The cave of Lascaux has an image of a horse coloured with yellow ochre estimated to be 17,300 years old. Neolithic burials may have used red ochre pigments symbolically, either to represent a return to the earth or possibly as a form of ritual rebirth, in which the colour may symbolize blood and a hypothesized Great Goddess.[13]

The use of ochre is particularly intensive: it is not unusual to find a layer of the cave floor impregnated with a purplish red to a depth of eight inches. The size of these ochre deposits raises a problem not yet solved. The colouring is so intense that practically all the loose ground seems to consist of ochre. One can imagine that the Aurignacians regularly painted their bodies red, dyed their animal skins, coated their weapons, and sprinkled the ground of their dwellings, and that a paste of ochre was used for decorative purposes in every phase of their domestic life. We must assume no less, if we are to account for the veritable mines of ochre on which some of them lived...

— Leroi-Gourhan, A. 1968. The Art of Prehistoric Man in Western Europe. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 40.

The Ancient

midlands of Ireland
.

Ochre has uses other than as paint: "tribal peoples alive today . . . use either as a way to treat animal skins or else as an insect repellent, to staunch bleeding, or as protection from the sun. Ochre may have been the first medicament."[14]

Africa

Himba woman covered with a traditional ochre pigment

Red ochre has been used as a colouring agent in Africa for over 200,000 years.[15] Women of the Himba ethnic group in Namibia use a mix of ochre and animal fat for body decoration, to achieve a reddish skin colour. The ochre mixture is also applied to their hair after braiding.[16] Men and women of the Maasai people in Kenya and Tanzania have also used ochre in the same way.

Ancient Egypt

Ochre paintings in the Tomb of Nakht in Ancient Egypt (15th century BC).

In Ancient Egypt, yellow was associated with gold, which was considered to be eternal and indestructible. The skin and bones of the gods were believed to be made of gold. The Egyptians used yellow ochre extensively in tomb painting, though occasionally they used orpiment, which made a brilliant colour, but was highly toxic, since it was made with arsenic. In tomb paintings, men were always shown with brown faces, women with yellow ochre or gold faces.[17]

Red ochre in Ancient Egypt was used as a rouge, or lip gloss for women.

Unfinished Obelisk at the northern region of the Aswan Stone Quarry, marking work sites. Ochre clays were also used medicinally in Ancient Egypt: such use is described in the Ebers Papyrus
from Egypt, dating to about 1550 BC.

Ancient Greece and Rome

Yellow ochre was often used for wall paintings in Ancient Roman villas and towns.

Ochre was the most commonly used pigment for painting walls in the

Assembly was called, a contingent of public slaves would sweep the open space of the Agora with ropes dipped in miltos: those citizens that loitered there instead of moving to the Assembly area
would risk having their clothes stained with the paint. This prevented them from wearing these clothes in public again, as failure to attend the Assembly incurred a fine.

In England, red ochre was also known as "raddle", "reddle", or "ruddle"[19] and was used to mark sheep and can also be used as a waxy waterproof coating on structures. The reddle was sold as a ready-made mixture to farmers and herders by travelling workers called reddlemen.[20]

In Classical antiquity, the finest red ochre came from a Greek colony on the Black Sea where the modern city of Sinop in Turkey is located. It was carefully regulated, expensive and marked by a special seal, and this colour was called sealed Sinope. Later the Latin and Italian name sinopia was given to wide range of dark red ochre pigments.[21] Roman triumphators painted their faces red, perhaps to imitate the red-painted flesh of statues of the Gods.[22] The Romans used yellow ochre in their paintings to represent gold and skin tones, and as a background colour. It is found frequently in the murals of Pompeii.


Australia

Multicoloured ochre rocks used in Aboriginal ceremony and artwork. Ochre Pits, Namatjira Drive, Northern Territory

Ochre pigments are plentiful across Australia, especially the

Mungo Man" (LM3) was buried sprinkled with red ochre at dates confidently estimated as at least 30,000 years B.P. and possibly as old as 60,000 years old.[27]

The National Museum of Australia has a large collection of samples of ochre from many sites across Australia.[28]

New Zealand

The

waka taua
(war canoe). Ochre prevented the drying out of the wood in canoes and the carvings of meeting houses; later missionaries estimated that it would last for 30 years. It was also roughly smeared over the face, especially by women, to keep off insects. Solid chunks of ochre were ground on a flat but rough surfaced rock to produce the powder.

Indigenous North America

In

Tongva and Chumash were also known to use red ochre as body paint.[33] Researchers diving into dark submerged caves on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula have found evidence of an ambitious mining operation starting 12,000 years ago and lasting two millennia for red ochre.[34]

Colonial North America

In Newfoundland, red ochre was the pigment of choice for use in vernacular outbuildings and work buildings associated with the cod fishery. Deposits of ochre are found throughout Newfoundland, notably near Fortune Harbour and at Ochre Pit Cove. While earliest settlers may have used locally collected ochre, people were later able to purchase pre-ground ochre through local merchants, largely imported from England.

The dry ingredient, ochre, was mixed with some type of liquid raw material to create a rough paint. The liquid material was usually seal oil or cod liver oil in Newfoundland and Labrador, while Scandinavian recipes sometimes called for linseed oil. Red ochre paint was sometimes prepared months in advance and allowed to sit, and the smell of ochre paint being prepared is still remembered today.[35]

Variations in local recipes, shades of ore, and type of oil used resulted in regional variations in colour. Because of this, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact shade or hue of red that would be considered the traditional "fishing stage red". In the Bonavista Bay area one man maintained that seal oil mixed with the ochre gave the sails a purer red colour, while cod liver oil would give a "foxy" colour, browner in hue.[35]


Renaissance

During the Renaissance, yellow and red ochre pigments were widely used in painting panels and frescoes. The colours vary greatly from region to region, depending upon whether the local clay was richer in yellowish limonite or reddish hematite. The red earth from Pozzuoli near Naples was a salmon pink, while the pigment from Tuscany contained manganese, making it a darker reddish brown called terra di siena, or sienna earth.[36]

The 15th-century painter Cennino Cennini described the uses of ochre pigments in his famous treatise on painting.

This pigment is found in the earth of mountains, where particular seams like sulphur are found. And there, where these seams are, sinopia, green earth and other types of pigment are found...And the abovementioned pigments running through this landscape looked as a scar on the face of a man or of a woman looks...I went in behind with my little knife, prospecting at the scar of this pigment; and in this way, I promise you, I never sampled a more lovely and perfect ochre pigment...And know that this ochre is a common pigment, particularly when working in fresco; that with other mixtures that, as i will explain to you, it is used for flesh colours, for drapery, for coloured mountains and buildings and hair and in general for many things.[37]

In early modern Malta, red ochre paint was commonly used on public buildings.[38]

Modern history

The industrial process for making ochre pigment was developed by the French scientist Jean-Étienne Astier in the 1780s. He was from Roussillon in the Vaucluse department of Provence, and he was fascinated by the cliffs of red and yellow clay in the region. He invented a process to make the pigment on a large scale. First the clay was extracted from open pits or mines. The raw clay contained about 10 to 20 percent ochre. Then he washed the clay to separate the grains of sand from the particles of ochre. The remaining mixture was then decanted in large basins, to further separate the ochre from the sand. The water was then drained, and the ochre was dried, cut into bricks, crushed, sifted, and then classified by colour and quality. The best quality was reserved for artists' pigments.[8]

In

beef sausage for the filling.[39]

As noted above, the industrial process for making ochre pigment was developed by the French scientist Jean-Étienne Astier in the 1780s, using the ochre mines and quarries in Roussillon, Rustrel, or Gargas in the Vaucluse department of Provence, in France. Thanks to the process invented by Astier and refined by his successors, ochre pigments from Vaucluse were exported across Europe and around the world. It was not only used for artists paints and house paints; it also became an important ingredient for the early rubber industry.

Ochre from Vaucluse was an important French export until the mid-20th century, when major markets were lost due to the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War. Ochre also began to face growing competition from newly synthetic pigment industry. The quarries in Roussillon, Rustrel, the Mines of Bruoux closed one by one. Today, the last quarry in activity is in Gargas (Vaucluse) and belongs to the Société des Ocres de France.

In heraldry and vexillology

Ochre, both red and yellow, appear as tinctures in South African heraldry; the national coat of arms, adopted in 2000, includes red ochre, while (yellow) ochre appears in the arms of the University of Transkei.[40][41]

Ochre is also used as a symbol of Indigenous Australians, and appears on the Flag of the Northern Territory and on the flags of the Taungurung and Aṉangu people.[42][43][44]

In popular culture

A reddleman named Diggory Venn was prominently described in Thomas Hardy's 1878 novel entitled The Return of the Native.

See also

References

Citations

  1. American Heritage Dictionary
    . 1969.
  2. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2002), Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ The Random House College Dictionary, Revised Edition, (1980). "Any of a class of natural earths, mixtures of hydrated oxides of iron and various earthy materials, ranging in colour from pale yellow to orange and red, and used as pigments. A colour ranging from pale yellow to reddish-yellow."
  4. ^ "Ochre" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. Vol. VII. 1921.
  5. ^ Krivovichev V. G. Mineralogical glossary. Scientific editor A. G. Bulakh. — St.Petersburg: St.Petersburg Univ. Publ. House. 2009. — 556 p. — ISBN 978-5-288-04863-0
  6. ^ CRC Handbook, any year
  7. ^ R. A. Lidin, L. L. Andreeva, V. A. Molochko, edited by R. A. Lidin. Constants of inorganic substances: reference book. 3-rd ed., stereotypical. — Moscow: Drofa, 2008 г. — 685 p.
  8. ^ . p. 30
  9. ^ Watts, I. 1999. The origin of symbolic culture. In R. Dunbar, C. Knight and C. Power (eds), The Evolution of Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 113-46.
  10. ^ Dapschauskas, R., Göden, M. B, Sommer, C. and Kandel, A. W., 2022. The Emergence of Habitual Ochre Use in Africa and its Significance for the Development of Ritual Behavior During the Middle Stone Age. Journal of World Prehistory https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-022-09170-2
  11. ^ Lanese, Nicoletta, Traces of an Ancient Human Culture From 40,000 Years Ago Unearthedin China, Live Science, March 3, 2022
  12. ^ Henshilwood, C. S., d’Errico, F., Yates, R., Jacobs, Z., Tribolo, C., Duller, G. A. T., Mercier, N., Sealy, J. C., Valladas, H., Watts, I. & Wintle, A. G. 2002. Emergence of modern human behavior: Middle Stone Age engravings from South Africa. Science 295: 1278-1280.
  13. ^ Giulia Battiti Sorlini, "The Megalithic Temples of Malta", Por Anthony Bonanno, Archaeology and fertility cult in the ancient Mediterranean: papers presented at the First International Conference on Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean, University of Malta, 2–5 September 1985, p.145.
  14. OCLC 65468616
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  15. .
  16. ^ Crandall, David P. (2000). The Place of Stunted Ironwood Trees. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. p. 48
  17. ^ "Pigments through the Ages - Antiquity". www.webexhibits.org.
  18. ^ Hamilton R. (2007). Ancient Egypt: The Kingdom of the Pharaohs. Parragon Inc. p. 62.
  19. .
  20. . Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  21. .
  22. ^ "The Roman Triumph | David Frum". davidfrum.com.
  23. ^ "Aboriginal Art Online, Traditional painting methods". Aboriginalartonline.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  24. .
  25. ^ Rurenga, Declan (2017-08-09). "Wiradjuri artist's painting depicts journey of healing at hospital". Central Western Daily. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  26. ^ "Lake Mungo 3". Personal.une.edu.au. Archived from the original on 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  27. S2CID 4365526
    .
  28. ^ "Ochre samples, National Museum of Australia". Nma.gov.au. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  29. ^ Dieffenbach cited in Wells, B., 1878. The history of Taranaki. Edmondson and Avery, New Plymouth.
  30. ^ "Red ochre in Newfoundland". Fisheriesheritage.ca. 2006-09-24. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  31. ISBN 9780920911181. Retrieved 24 August 2023 – via Google Books
    .
  32. ^ Gilbert, William (February 2009). "The Baccalieu Trail Archaeology Project 2008: A Preliminary Report on Excavations at Cupids and Dildo Island" (PDF). Provincial Archaeology Office 2008 Archaeology Review. 7: 58–66.
  33. ^ The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map. "C. Michael Hogan, Los Osos Back Bay, Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham (2008)". Megalithic.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  34. ^ Dunham, Will (3 July 2020). "Prehistoric ochre mining operation found in submerged Mexican caves". Reuters.
  35. ^ a b Jarvis, Dale Gilbert; Barrett, Terra M. (March 2019). "The Historical Use of Ochre Pigments in Newfoundland and Labrador" (PDF). Heritage NL Fieldnotes Series. 3. Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  36. ^ Daniel V. Thompson, The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, p. 99
  37. ^ Lara Broecke, Cennino Cennini's Il Libro dell'Arte: a New English Translation and Commentary with Italian transcription, Archetype 2015, p. 71
  38. ^ "Auberge D'Aragon" (PDF). National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. 28 December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
  39. ^ The Times, Police, 5 February 1894; pg. 14
  40. ^ "South Africa – Coat of Arms". Crwflags.com. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  41. ^ Mike Oettle. "Armoria academica - University of Transkei". geocities.com/wapenskild. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004.
  42. ^ "Flag of the Northern Territory | Australian flag | Britannica". www.britannica.com.
  43. ^ "Taungurung Sovereign Flag - Taungurung Land & Waters Council". May 14, 2021.
  44. ^ "Anangu traditional owners (Australia)". www.crwflags.com.

Sources

  • Dapschauskas, R., Göden, M. B, Sommer, C. and Kandel, A. W., 2022. The Emergence of Habitual Ochre Use in Africa and its

Significance for the Development of Ritual Behavior During the Middle Stone Age. Journal of World Prehistory The Emergence of Habitual Ochre Use in Africa and its Significance for The Development of Ritual Behavior During The Middle Stone Age

  • Watts, I. 2002. Ochre in the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa: Ritualised display or hide preservative? South African Archaeological Bulletin 57: 15–30.

External links