WARNING! CONTAINS ARSENIC. Please read the for cautionary statements.
Orpiment is yellow arsenic sulfide, usually described as a lemon or canary yellow or sometimes as a golden or brownish yellow. It is designated as brilliant yellow in Munsell notation 4.4Y 8.7/8.9. Our orpiment is made from natural mineral sources near Kadamdzhay in Kyrgyzstan or Hubei Province, China, and is an intensely bright pigment of crystalline particles.
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| Mineral Names: | Chinese: ci huang or shi huang (pinyin), tz'u huang or shih huang English: orpiment French: orpiment German: Rauschgelb, Operment Italian: orpimento Japanese: shiō, kiō, sekiō Russian: аурипигмент Spanish: oropimente | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Artificial Pigment Names: | English: king's yellow French: juane royal, orpin artificiel German: Königsgelb Russian: желтый мышьяк | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonyms: | English: arrhenicum, arsenic trisulfide, arsenikon, auripigment, auripigmento, auripigmentum, jalde, operment, oropiment, yellow arsenic French: arsenic jaune, arsenic sulfuré jaune German: Arsenblende, Arsenikon, Auripigment, Gelbe Arsenblende Greek: studied the mechanisms of deterioration in orpiment. Several medieval painting guides do not recommend mixing orpiment with lead white, red lead, or verdigris. However, it must also be noted that it has been identified in paintings mixed with indigo, red iron oxide, azurite, Prussian blue, green bice (artificial malachite), and bice (smalt). It cannot be applied to wet plaster and hence is not recommended in wet fresco painting techniques. Oil Absorption and Grinding No data has been published on the oil absorption properties of orpiment. It isn't easy to grind because of its micaceous structure. For this reason, it is often relatively coarse. Adding ground glass to the pigment has been suggested to facilitate grinding and dispersion in linseed oil. ToxicityThe toxicity of arsenic sulfide pigments has been known for years. Extreme caution must be used when handling the dry orpiment pigment and in any soluble form to avoid inhaling the dust or ingesting it.
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