10 Colors That Faded Away

10 Colors That Faded Away

1. Ivory Black
   Antiquity-modern Times
   This deep blue -black was made from the burned and charred waste of ivory, it fell out of use as ivory did.
2. Caput Mortuum
   1700s-1800
   A brown pigment made of ground-up Egyptian mummies, “caput mortuum” means “worthless remains.”
3. Vermilion
   Antiquity-Modern Times
   The color of the mercuric sulfide cinnabar, vermilion was beautiful but rare, unstable and toxic.
4. Red Dye #3
   Modern Times
   The US government banned this red food cosmetics dye in 1990 for being carcinogenic.
5. Realgar
   Antiquity Modern Times
   Realgar is highly toxic arsenic sulfide that was ones the only pure orange pigment available.
6. Indian Yellow
   1400s-1800s
   Supposedly made from the urine of cows only fed mango leaves, this color would have become rare due to its poor effects on cattle
7. Lead White
   Antiquity- Renaissance
   White paint that got its color from lead was a great pigment, but deadly.
8. Verdigris
   Antiquity- 1800s
   A moderately transparent bluish green with low stability, verdigris is a copper acetate, and quite toxic.
9. Chartres Blue
   1300s
   This blue, used to color stained glass in France’s Chartres cathedral. proved incredibly difficult to make.
10. Smalt
    1400s-1700s
    Made from ground-up glass and cobalt, this blue was complicated to manufacture and faded easily

Reasons for the faded colors

• Unstable ingredients
• Complicated ingredients or method
• Details of manufacture lost to time
• Poisonous or harmful