Dictionarium polygraphicum. Colours in particular.

Dictionarium Polygraphicum:
Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested.
Vol I.
London: Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, and S. Austen in St. Paul's Church Yard. MDCCXXXV.
1735
CERUSS, grind it with glair of eggs, and it will make a very good white. It is too yellow for some purposes, coarse and ritty.

WHITE-LEAD, grind it with a weak water of gum lake, and let it stand three or four days, and if it be afterwards mixt with roset and vermilion, it will make a fine carnation.
To order white-lead so, that it shall neither rust nor shine, both which are of an ill effect in the art of limning. See the ar ticle LEAD.

Spanish White, being ground with gum water, is the best White of all to garnish with.

Lamp-Black, makes a good Black being ground with gum Water.

Vermilion. If it be ground with the glair of an egg, and a little clarified honey, to make it bright and perfect is good; but native cinnabar is better and of a more lively Colour.

Cinnabar Lake makes a deep and beautiful red, or rather purple, almost like to a red rose, grind it with gum lake and turnsole water; if you will have it light, add a little ceruss, and it will make it a bright crimson; if it be to diaper, add only turnsole water.

Red-lead, grind it with some saffron and a stiff gum-lake; the saffron will make it orient and of a marygold Colour.

Turnsole, lay it in a saucer of vinegar, and set it over a chafing dish of coals; when it boils, take it off, and wring it into a shell, adding a little gum arabick, let it stand till it is dissolv’d; this is good for shadowing carnation and all yellows.

Roset, grind it with brasile water, and it will make a deep purple; put ceruss to it and it will be lighter; grind it with litmose, and it will make a fair violet.

Spanish Brown, grind it with brasile water, mingle it with ceruss, and it will make a horse flesh Colour. It is not so brisk and lively as Indian red.

Bole Armoniack makes but a faint Colour, the chief use of it is in making size for burnish’d gold.

Green Bice is to be ordered as you do blue Bice; when it is moist and not thorough dry, you may diaper upon it with the water of deep green.

Verdigrease, grind it with juice of rue and a little weak gum. water, and you will have a most pure green; if you would diaper with it grind it with lye of rue (or the decoction thereof) and it will make a hoary green.
Diaper upon Verdegrease green with sap green; also Verdegrease ground with white tartar, and then temper'd with gum water, gives a most perfect green.

Verditer, grind it with a weak gum arabick water, it is, the faintest green that is; but is good to lay upon black in any kind of drapery.

Sap Green, lay it in sharp vinegar all night, put into it a little alum to raise its Colour, and you will have a good green to diaper upon other greens.
It is a shining but a fading Colour. You may use green pink instead of it, for that has neither of those faults.

Orpiment, Arsenicum, Auripigmentum,, grind it with a stiff water of gum lake, because it is the best Colour itself, it will lie upon no green; for all greens, white and red lead, and ceruss stain it.
Wherefore, you must deepen your Colours so, that the orpiment may be highest, and so it may agree with all Colours. It is of a venomous quality, and some of it is coarse.

Masticote, grind it with a small quantity of saffron in gum water, and never make it lighter than it is, it will endure to lie upon all Colours and metals.

Saffron, steep it in glair, it may be ground with vermilion.

Pink Yellow, if you would have it sad colour'd, grind it with saffron, if light with ceruss; mix it with gum water, and so use 1t.

Oker de Luce, grind it with pure brasile water, and it will make a passing hair Colour, and is a natural shadow for gold. Roman oker is the most glowing oker of all okers.

Umber is a more sad brown Colour, grind it with gum water or gum lake, and lighten it (if you please) with a little ceruss, and a blade of saffron; to cleanse it, burn it in a crucible, then grind it and it will be good, and when you temper it in the shell use a drop or two of onion water, and it will preserve it from cracking.

Ultramarine, if you would have it deep, grind it with litmose water, but if light with fine ceruss, and a little gum arabick Water.

In grinding Ultramarine and other Colours, be not too swift in your motion, but let it be gentle and slow, because the swiftness of the motion causes the stones to heat; which will cause your Colour to starve or lose somewhat of its lustre, especially, if it be a Colour of no great body, as pink, indigo, &c.

Indigo, grind it with water of gum arabick, as you do ultramarine.

Blue Bice, grind it with clean water, as fine as can be, and then put it into a shell, and wash it, as follows; put as much water to it, as will fill up the shell or vessel you put it into, and stir it well; let it stand for an hour, then throw away the filth and dirty water, and put in more clean water, do thus four or five times.
Then put some gum arabick water to it somewhat weak, that the Bice may fall to the bottom, pour off the gum water, and put more to it, wash it again, dry it and mix it with weak gum water (if you would have it rise of the same Colour) but with a stiff water of gum lake, if you would have a most perfect blue; but grind it with a little ceruss, if you would have it a light blue, but add litmose water, if you would have it a very deep blue.

Smalt, grind it with a little fine rosetta, and it will make a deep violet, and by putting in a quantity of ceruss, it will make a light violet.

Litmose Blue, grind it with ceruss, with a pretty deal of litmose, it will make a deep blue, and with a pretty deal of ceruss, it will make a light blue; grind it with the weak water of gum arabick.
Take fine litmose, cut it in pieces, lay it in weak water of gum lake for twenty four hours, and you will have a water of a most perfect azure; with which water you may diaper and damask upon all other blues, to make them appear more fair and beautiful.

Orchal. Grind it with unslack'd lime and urine, it makes a pure violet; by putting to more or less lime, you make the violet light or deep as you please.

Mummy burnt makes a good black; but if not, and is ill-conditioned, hard, and will not flow from the pencil, you may burn it in a crucible well luted.

English Oker. It is a yellow colour, and lies even in the shell of it self; it is of great use, being well ground.

Pink mix’d with Blue Bice. It is a good green, the fairest pink is best, well ground and temper'd with blue bice, allowing one quantity of pink to three of blue-bice.
If you would deepen it for landscapes or drapery, mix a little indigo finely ground with it.

Indian Lake. This makes a delicate purple; grind it with a little gum water, and when it is fine, before you put it into the shell, mix a little powder of white sugar candy with it, which will preserve it from cracking; then you may spread it thinly with your finger about the shell.

Indian red makes a very dark red; because this colour is very coarse, you may use umber and a little lake tempered, which is as good.

Ivory Black. Grind it with a little white sugar candy, and it will preserve it from crackling out of your shells; it makes a black.

Cherry stone is burnt in a crucible (as is the former) and so ground. It is good for drapery, and for a black sattin; temper it with a little white indian lake and indigo. Heighten it with a little lighter mixture; deepen it with ivory black.

Caput Mortuum of Vitriol. First grind it well upon a marble; then wash it well, as is directed for the washing white lead: see white LEAD or WASHING. Then grind it with a weak gum lake water; it will make a deep red, or almost purple colour.