Frankfort Black

: ON THE NEUTRAL, BLACK.

is said to be made of the lees of wine from which the tartar has been

washed, by burning, in the manner of ivory black; although the inferior

sort is merely the levigated charcoal of woods, of which the hardest,

such as box and ebony, yield the best. Fine Frankfort black, though

almost confined to copper-plate printing, is one of the best black

pigments extant, being of a neutral colour, next in intensity to lamp

black, and more powerful than that of ivory. Strong light has the effect

of deepening its colour. It is probable that this was the black used by

some of the Flemish painters, and that the pureness of the greys formed

therewith is due to the property of charred substances of preventing

discolourment.



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