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Mummy Brown (Historical Pigment)

Mummy

Alternate Name

Egyptian Brown

Pigment Description

As awful as it sounds, it seems to be true that real human beings were turned into paint. The bitumen/asphaltum involved in mummifying remains was the core colorant of this pigment. Primarily this was a transparent brown.

Resources

CAMEO Materials Database: Conservation & Art Materials Encyclopedia Online, Museum of Fine Arts Boston. (Accessed June 2025). Mummy https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Mummy. Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

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Dry Pigments listing Mummy

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