lamp black

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Lamp black

It is known from classical times and it is made by collecting soot from oil lamps. Slightly bluish in color, it makes good neutral grays when mixed with white.

Manufacturer / product code: Kremer / 47250
Chemical description: amorphous carbon black made from condensed smoke of burning mineral oil, tar, pitch or resin. Kremer PDF
Color: black
Color Index: PBk7
More info: Pigments Through The Ages

Lamp black is among the oldest pigments used by humankind, its origins reaching back to prehistoric times. Produced from the soot generated by burning oil or resin in low-oxygen conditions, it consists of nearly pure carbon. This simple yet remarkably stable material has accompanied human artistic expression for thousands of years.

Evidence of lamp black appears in ancient Egyptian painting, Greek pottery, Roman wall decoration, and Chinese ink traditions. Its deep, velvety black and excellent covering power made it suitable for outlining, shading, and writing. In China, finely prepared lamp black—mixed with animal glue—became the foundation of inkstick production as early as the Han dynasty. These inks shaped calligraphy, painting, and scholarly culture for more than two millennia.

In medieval Europe, lamp black was used in manuscript illumination and fresco painting. It provided strong, matte blacks capable of withstanding humidity and time. During the Renaissance, artists such as Leonardo, Titian, and Tintoretto employed it for underdrawings, chiaroscuro, and atmospheric effects. Its transparency in oil allowed painters to build deep shadows and subtle glazes, while its intensity made it indispensable for printmaking inks.

The Industrial Revolution brought more controlled manufacturing methods, enabling finer particles and more consistent qualities. Lamp black became central to typography, lithography, and later photography and early carbon-based printing technologies.

Today, lamp black remains a fundamental pigment in art materials—from inks to oil colours, from acrylics to drawing sticks. In conservation science, its identification is usually straightforward: Raman spectroscopy reveals strong carbon bands, while microscopy highlights its extremely fine, rounded particles.

Raman spectroscopy

Pigments (powder, no binder)

Raman Spectroscopy 785 nm Pigments (pure, no binder) (67953 downloads )

Pigments with acrylic binder (Pigments Checker)

Raman Spectroscopy 785 nm Pigments-Checker Database (68131 downloads )

Pure pigments (no binder, just powder)

DOWNLOAD Free Raman Database

DOWNLOAD paper: “Pigments Checker version 3.0, a handy set for conservation scientists: A free online Raman spectra database”

XRF spectroscopy

XRF Spectroscopy Pigments-Checker Database (77570 downloads )

DOWNLOAD previous database from Pigments Checker V.3 DOWNLOAD paper: R. Larsen, N. Coluzzi, A. Cosentino “Free XRF Spectroscopy database of Pigments Checker” Intl Journal of Conservation Science.