Abstract
We describe the historical appearance, composition and texture of a little‐known orange pigment in 17th‐century northern India. The pigment shares similarities with lead–tin yellow type II, but has between 6 and 7 wt% zinc oxide instead of silica as a minor element in its structure, in addition to the dominant lead and tin oxide. The consistency of its occurrence and composition across several important and highly decorated monuments and relatively wide chronological and geographical ranges of use indicate the controlled and intentional production of this pigment. We propose to use the name lead–tin orange for this material, indicating its similarity to lead–tin yellow but highlighting its independent character and distinct colour.
Highlights
Amongst the repertoire of colourants employed in Mughal Islamic glazed tiles from India is lead–tin yellow, an opacifier and pigment known to exist from antiquity, with reported use from the second century bce to the 18th century ce (Clark et al 1995; Tite et al 2008)
While previous studies have demonstrated the occurrence of lead–tin orange along with the dominant lead–tin yellow pigment in Mughal 17th-century yellow and green glazes (Gill and Rehren 2011; Gulzar et al 2012), its clearly detected presence in orange-coloured glazed tiles confirms its use in contemporary orange glazes as well
We have shown that a hitherto little-known artificial orange pigment, dubbed lead–tin orange in parallel to the better-known lead–tin yellow, has been consistently produced and intentionally used in Mughal India, in the early to middle 17th century
Summary
Amongst the repertoire of colourants employed in Mughal Islamic glazed tiles from India is lead–tin yellow, an opacifier and pigment known to exist from antiquity, with reported use from the second century bce to the 18th century ce (Clark et al 1995; Tite et al 2008). The type II form, which has less lead and incorporates silicon in the crystal structure through the partial replacement of tin, is prepared by heating a mixture of pre-synthesized lead–tin yellow type I and silica between temperatures of 800 and 950°C, beyond which it is known to decompose to its constituents (Rooksby 1964; Kühn 1968; Clark et al 1995), or by heating the oxides of lead and tin with a small amount of glass as a flux (Heck et al 2003) They are distinguished primarily through their different levels of lead and tin oxide, with type I having an ideal composition of ∼75 wt% PbO and 25 wt% SnO2, and type II of ∼60 wt% PbO and 40 wt% SnO2, with variable amounts of SiO2 substituting for SnO2
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