Grape Seed Black

Natural organic pigment

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Composition and Properties of Grape Seed Black

Grape seed black is finely ground material obtained by carbonizing (charring) grape seeds. The pigment is very stable and lightfast as are all carbon blacks. and there are no known incompatibilities with other pigments.

grape-seed-black-crystals

Pigment

grape-seed-black-painted-swatch

Painted swatch

Names 

Color Index

PBk 8, CI 77268

Word origin

Probably a back-formation from graper “steal; grasp; catch with a hook; pick (grapes),” from a Frankish or other Germanic word, from Proto-Germanic *krappon “hook,”
From Online Etymology Dictionary

Spain Flag

Traubenkernschwarz

German

Spain Flag

Noir de raisin

French

Spain Flag

Nero di noccioli di uve

Italian

Spain Flag

Negro de uva

Spanish

Preparation 

Grape seed black is finely ground material obtained by carbonizing (charring) grape seeds.

Grape-seeds

Grape seeds

History of Use 

Pliny mentions in his writings that the black pigment of antiquity was prepared by charring of grape seeds. Later they made charcoal from wood or used coal or soot directly as a pigment (1).

References

(1) Doerner, M. The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting: With Notes on the Techniques of the Old Masters, Revised Edition, Mariner Books, 1949.

Identification

Raman Spectrum

(1) Eugenia P. Tomasini, Emilia B. Halac, María Reinoso, Emiliano J. Di Liscia and Marta S. Maier, Micro-Raman spectroscopy of carbon-based black pigments, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, Special Issue: Raman spectroscopy in art and archaeology, Volume 43, Issue 11, pp. 1671–1675, November 2012.

(2) Alessia Coccato, Jan Jehlicka, Luc Moens and Peter Vandenabeele, Raman spectroscopy for the investigation of carbon-based black pigments, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, Special Issue: 11th International GeoRaman Conference, Volume 46, Issue 10, pages 1003–1015, October 2015. DOI: 10.1002/jrs.4715. Available as pdf.

Further Reading

References

Winter, J. and West FitzHugh, E., Pigments based on Carbon, in Berrie, B.H. Editor, Artists’ Pigments, A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Volume 4, pp. 1-37.

J. Winter, “The Characterization of Pigments Based on Carbon” Studies in Conservation, 28:49-66, 1983.

S. Muntwyler, J. Lipscher, HP. Schneider, Das Farbenbuch, 2nd. Ed., 2023, alataverlag Elsau, pp. 160-65.