Red Ochre

“A kind of red ochre is also produced from burnt yellow ochre, although it is not as good (sc. as natural red ochre). It was Kydios’ discovery. For, so they say, he became aware of it when a market burned down: he saw that the yellow ochre when half-burnt had also become red.”

γίνεται [sc. μίλτος] δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὤχρας κατακαιομένης ἀλλὰ χείρων, τὸ δ' εὕρημα Κυδίου. συνεῖδε γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, ὥς φασι, κατακαυθέντος τινὸς παντοπωλίου* τὴν ὤχραν ἰδὼν ἡμίκαυστον καὶ πεφοινιγμένην.

Theophrastus, On Stones, 53–54

*τινὸς παντοπωλίου: Caley translates this as ‘inn’. I’m not sure what Greek text he was using, but I think the παντοπώλιον is the place where you find everything (τὰ πάτνα) for sale (πωλεῖν).

Cyan / Lapis Lazuli

“Just as some red ochre is spontaneous and some is artificial, so with cyan, some is native, some prepared (like in Egypt*). Now, there are three kinds of cyan: the Egyptian, the Scythian and third the Cyprian. The Egyptian is best for unmixed pigments, the Scythian for those that are wetter. The Egyptian, however, is prepared. In fact, those who record the deeds of their kings also record this: a king first made liquid cyan by imitating the native kind, as gifts of fired and unfired cyan were sent as tribute from Phoenicia and other places. Meanwhile, those who grind pigments** say that Scythian cyan produces from itself four colours: the first from the finest parts is most pale, the second from the coarsest parts is darkest. These come to be by art, too, as does white lead.”

ἔστι δέ, ὥσπερ καὶ μίλτος ἡ μὲν αὐτόματος ἡ δὲ τεχνική, καὶ κύανος ὁ μὲν αὐτοφυὴς ὁ δὲ σκευαστὸς ὥσπερ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ. γένη δὲ κυάνου τρία, ὁ Αἰγύπτιος, καὶ ὁ Σκύθης, καὶ τρίτος ὁ Κύπριος. βέλτιστος δ' ὁ Αἰγύπτιος εἰς τὰ ἄκρατα λειώματα, ὁ δὲ Σκύθης εἰς τὰ ὑδαρέστερα. σκευαστὸς δ' ὁ Αἰγύπτιος. καὶ οἱ γράφοντες τὰ περὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς καὶ τοῦτο γράφουσι, τίς πρῶτος βασιλεὺς ἐποίησε χυτὸν κύανον μιμησάμενος τὸν αὐτοφυῆ, δῶρά τε πέμπεσθαι παρ' ἄλλων τε καὶ ἐκ Φοινίκης φόρον κυάνου, τοῦ μὲν ἀπύρου τοῦ δὲ πεπυρωμένου. φασὶ δ' οἱ τὰ φάρμακα τρίβοντες τὸν Σκύθην κύανον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖν χρώματα τέτταρα, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκ τῶν λεπτοτάτων λευκότατον, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἐκ τῶν παχυτάτων μελάντατον. ταῦτά τε δὴ τέχνῃ γίνεται καὶ ἔτι τὸ ψιμύθιον.

Theophrastus, On Stones, 55–56

*κύανος (cyan): a dark blue pigment. The native kind is most likely lapis lazuli. The χυτὸν κύανον is obscure, but might be a liquid form (parallel would be χυτὸς ἄργυρος, quicksilver). I translate it as ‘liquid cyan’.

**οἱ τὰ φάρμακα τρίβοντες : “the drug-grinders.” τὰ φάρμακα has a semantic range that does not map on to either ‘drugs’, ‘medicines’ or ‘poisons’. Closest thing, I guess, would be to say, ‘chemicals,’ but that’s probably a bit too specific.

Cinnabar

“There is also a native and a manufactured kind of cinnabar. The native kind around Iberia is very hard and stony, as is the one in the Kolchian regions. This, they say, is found on cliffs, which they bring down by shooting it with arrows. The manufactured kind comes only from one place in the Kilbian region (?)*, a little bit outside of Ephesus. It is a sandy ore** which they collect when shiny, like Kermes. Once this is ground to a very fine powder in stone vessels, they wash it in copper ones, and again, taking the sediment, they wash and grind it, a task that takes some skill. For from the same amount of ore, some people produce much, some little or nothing; but, they treat the washings from above, coating them one by one. The sediment below is cinnabar, while what remains on top is mostly scum.***

“They say that Kallias, an Athenian, discovered and invented the manufacturing process from the silver mines. He thought the sandy ore had gold in it because it was shiny, and so he worked on it and collected it. When he perceived it did not have any, he marveled at the beauty of the sand because of its colour, and thus he came to the manner of its manufacture. This wasn’t long ago, but about ninety years at most before Praxibolos was archon at Athens.

“It is clear from these things that art imitates nature but produces its own kinds of things. Of these, some exist for the sake of utility, others, like paints, only for the sake of appearance, and some equally for the sake of both, like quicksilver. For this has a use, as well. It is made when cinnabar is ground up with vinegar in a bronze vessel and bronze pestle. Perhaps we might discover more things like these.”

γίνεται δὲ καὶ κιννάβαρι τὸ μὲν αὐτοφυὲς τὸ δὲ κατ' ἐργασίαν. αὐτοφυὲς μὲν τὸ περὶ Ἰβηρίαν σκληρὸν σφόδρα καὶ λιθῶδες, καὶ τὸ ἐν Κόλχοις. τοῦτο δέ φασιν εἶναι ἐπὶ κρημνῶν, ὃ καταβάλλουσι τοξεύοντες. τὸ δὲ κατ' ἐργασίαν ὑπὲρ Ἐφέσου μικρὸν <ἐν Κιλβιανοῖς (?)> ἐξ ἑνὸς τόπου μόνον. ἔστι δ' ἄμμος ἣν συλλέγουσι λαμπυρίζουσαν καθάπερ ὁ κόκκος· ταύτην δὲ τρίψαντες ὅλως ἐν ἀγγείοις λιθίνοις λειοτάτην πλύνουσιν ἐν χαλκοῖς [μικρὸν ἐν καλοῖς], τὸ δ' ὑφιστάμενον πάλιν λαβόντες πλύνουσι καὶ τρίβουσιν, ἐν ᾧπέρ ἐστι τὸ τῆς τέχνης· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου πολὺ περιποιοῦσιν, οἱ δ' ὀλίγον ἢ οὐθέν· ἀλλὰ πλύσματι τῷ ἐπάνω χρῶνται ἓν πρὸς ἓν ἀλείφοντες. γίνεται δὲ τὸ μὲν ὑφιστάμενον κάτω κιννάβαρι, τὸ δ' ἐπάνω καὶ πλεῖον πλύσμα.

καταδεῖξαι δέ φασι καὶ εὑρεῖν τὴν ἐργασίαν Καλλίαν τινὰ Ἀθηναῖον ἐκ τῶν ἀργυρείων, ὃς οἰόμενος ἔχειν τὴν ἄμμον χρυσίον διὰ τὸ λαμπυρίζειν ἐπραγματεύετο καὶ συνέλεγεν. ἐπεὶ δ' ᾔσθετο ὅτι οὐκ ἔχοι τὸ δὲ τῆς ἄμμου κάλλος ἐθαύμαζε διὰ τὴν χρόαν, οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν ἦλθε ταύτην. οὐ παλαιὸν δ' ἐστὶν ἀλλὰ περὶ ἔτη μάλιστ' ἐνενήκοντα εἰς ἄρχοντα Πραξίβουλον Ἀθήνησι.

φανερὸν δ' ἐκ τούτων ὅτι μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν ἡ τέχνη, τὰ δ' ἴδια ποιεῖ, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν χρήσεως χάριν τὰ δὲ μόνον φαντασίας ὥσπερ τὰς ἀλοιφάς. ἔνια δὲ ἴσως ἀμφοῖν ὥσπερ χυτὸν ἄργυρον. ἔστι γάρ τις χρεία καὶ τούτου. ποιεῖται δὲ ὅταν κιννάβαρι τριφθῇ μετ' ὄξους ἐν ἀγγείῳ χαλκῷ καὶ δοίδυκι χαλκῷ. τὰ μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα τάχ' ἄν τις λάβοι πλείω.

Theophrastus, On Stones, 58–60

*<ἐν Κιλβιανοῖς (?)>: some textual confusion. Schneider seems to have transposed ἐν καλοῖς from a bit below to here and emended it to ἐν Κιλβιανοῖς (‘in the Kilbian region’). Sure, why not…

**ἄμμος = ψάμμος, as in a sandy ore (probably, maybe).

***ἀλλὰ πλύσματι … πλύσμα. Not quite clear on the process here, but probably something similar to sluicing or panning: water goes over the sandy ore, and because of the agitation, solids of different sizes or densities separate into different layers.