Madder Pigment Making

Columbia Conservation Lab, Spring 2015

Recipes from Natural Colorants for Dyeing and Lake Pigments: Practical Recipes and Their Historical Sources by Jo Kirby

Traveling Scriptorium, Yale University Library


Original Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 2g coarsely ground madder root
• Polyester netting bag (or cheesecloth or something similar)
• 60 ml water
• 1g potash alum
• 0.4g potash
• 40 ml water
• Water to wash

Field Notes:

Name: Workshop and Naomi Rosenkranz
Location: Laboratory - Chandler 260

Sample A

2015.09.28, 6:28pm

• 5 times original recipe:
  • 10g coarsely ground madder root
  • 300 ml water
  • 5g potash alum
  • 2g potash
  • 200 ml water
• Roots ground and enclosed in cheesecloth. Left to soak in 300ml water overnight

2015.09.29

• Filtered, boiled, potash alum added
  • Observations:
    • Darker, more opaque, more brown
    • Appears murky, almost as if it is made up of many solid precipitates
• Potash added
  • Observations:
    • Effervescence
    • Lighter in color
• Left to settle overnight

2015.09.30

• Filtered, washed once

2015.10.02

• Washed twice

2015.10.05

• Pigment ground and ready for use
• Final yield:

Sample B

2015.10.05

• 2 times original recipe
• Final yield: 0.03g

Sample C

2015.10.05

• 10 times original recipe
• Beaker shattered
• Final yield: 0g

Sample D

2015.10.05

• 10 times original recipe
• Final yield: 3.8g

Further Notes on Sample D