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Zinc white

/ zink wite /
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1. Overview
2. History of use
3. Making the pigment
4. Technical details

Painted swatch of Zinc white.

Brief description of Zinc white:


Zinc white has a much colder, cleaner, whiter masstone than the best
grades of lead white or titanium white. Zinc white was accepted as a
watercolor by 1834 but it was some years later before its
difficulties in oil were overcome

Names for Zinc white:


Alternative Chinese white
names:
Word origin: The name "Zinc white" comes from Latin vermiculus =
small worm, cochineal (which yields a red dye), from
vermis = worm.

Non-English
names:

German
French
Italian
Zinkweiss blanc de zinc bianco di zinco

Origin:
Chemical
name:

artificial
Zinc(II)-oxide

Example of use by artists:


Healing with pigments

Zinc oxide is used to treat or prevent minor skin irritations such as


burns, cuts, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and diaper rash.
It is applied to abrasions to accelerate healing. It is also used as
a sunscreen. Scientific findings have confirmed the long UVA rays
(340-400 nanometers) are primarily responsible for premature aging of
the skin. Zinc white protects very well in this range.

History of Zinc white:


Zinc has been known as a mineral since antiquity when it was melted
with copper to form brass. It was also known then, as it is today, as
a medicinal ointment. Sources differ on who first isolated the
element. Harley and Wehlte claim it was Henkel in 1421 who first
produced metallic zinc. Gettens and Stout maintain it was the German
chemist, Margraaf in 1746. Historians agree, however, that in 1782,
zinc oxide was suggested as a white pigment. Guyton de Morveau at
L'Acadmie de Dijon, France, reported on white pigments and the raw
materials which might serve as white pigments, including zinc oxide
in that year. He suggested zinc oxide as a substitute for white lead.
Metallic zinc had originally come from China and the East Indies.
When zinc ore was found in Europe, large-scale production of the
extracted metallic zinc began. In 1794 and 1796 patents were issued
for the manufacture of zinc oxide to the English colormaker John
Atkinson of Harrington Near Liverpool.
Zinc white was accepted as a watercolor by 1834 but it was some years
later before its difficulties in oil were overcome. In 1834, Winsor
and Newton, Limited, of London, introduced a particularly dense form
of zinc oxide which was sold as Chinese white. It was different from
former zinc white in that the zinc was heated at much higher
temperatures than the late eighteenth century variety. The name
'Chinese white' is said to have come from the oriental porcelain that
was very popular in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. George H. Backhoffner of London disputed Winsor and
Newton's claim of their superior white watercolor in his book
Chemistry as Applied to the Fine Arts, London, 1837. Backhoffner
recommended Flemish white as superior (white lead). Winsor and Newton
believed that although scientists would ignore Backhoffner, artists
would not use the Chinese white because Backhoffner lectured widely
in the Art Academies and his opinion would be well known to them. In
1837, Winsor and Newton published a response to Backhoffner in
Remarks on White Pigments used by WaterColour Painters and
distributed copies to the artists. They were successful in convincing
artists of the superiority of Chinese white because the name is still
synonymous today for all zinc white in watercolor.
By 1844, a better zinc white for oil was developed by LeClaire in
Paris. He ground the zinc oxide with poppy oil that had been made

fast drying by boiling it with pyrolusite (MnO2). In 1845, he was


producing the oil paint on a large scale. By 1850, zinc white was
being manufactured throughout Europe.
Zinc white was still a slow drying white requiring twenty-three parts
of oil to one hundred parts of pigment whereas lead white requires
fifteen parts of oil. Zinc is essentially permanent in sunlight
although the yellowing in oil affects its brightness. It had
advantages over white lead because it was not blackened by sulphurbearing air or other pigments containing sulphur, as lead is. It is
non-toxic and more economical than white lead.
It is neiter as opaque nor heavy as lead white and it takes much
longer to dry. Because zinc white is so "clean" it is very valuable
for making tints with other colors. Tints made with zinc white show
every nuance of a color's undertones to a degree greater than tints
made with other whites, and the artist has time to complete his work
before the paint dries. Despite its many advantages over lead white,
zinc white oil color also has a drawback; it makes a rather brittle
dry paint film when used unmixed with other colors. Zinc whites' lack
of pliancy can cause cracks in paintings after only a few years if
this color is used straight up to excess. For example, during the
late 1890's and very early 1900's some artists used zinc white as a
ground for their oil paintings. They wanted to utilize the brilliance
of this color, but did not realize its long term disadvantage. After
a period of years, all of these paintings developed cracks where
older works painted on more traditional grounds remained free from
cracks.It is perfectly safe to use in moderate amounts for normal
color mixing and for painting. Because it is relatively slow drying,
zinc white is also useful for highlighting, as it will not dry faster
than the color it was painted over. However, it would be a poor
choice for painting a Winterscape or similar paintings having large
expanses of white, because zinc white dries to a brittle film that
would crack.

When was Zinc white used?


Discovery
1834

Used until
continues in use

Use of Zinc white among paintings in the SchackGallery,


Munich:

Source: Khn

How Zinc white is made:


Natural variety
of pigment
Artificial variety The French method of manufacturing, known as the 'indirect process' used the
of pigment
zinc smoke derived from molten zinc, which was heated to 150C and collected
in a series of chambers.

The ground pigment:


Pile of ground Zinc white

About the chemical structure:


Chemical name: Zinc(II)-oxide
Formula:

ZnO

3D model:

red = oxygen, green = zinc


Crystal system:

Trigonal - Trapezohedral (at Mineralogy Database)

Refractive index: w = 2.905, e = 3.256; uniaxial

Color:
Color Index (C.I.) PW 4

How can you identify Zinc white?


Imaging:
UVF: bright yellow
IRFC: white
OM: Since zinc oxide is derived from smoke fumes, its particles are
very fine and are difficult to observe except at very high
magnification.

Microscopic appearance at x500 mag

Analytics:
It readily dissolves in alkaline solutions, acids and ammonia without
foaming.
Raman spectra: University College London;
FTIR spectra: IRUG

Usage and handling:


Permanence:

Lightfast: very good.

Toxicity:

non toxic. Zinc white is


not considered to be
Degradation processes: vermilion is,
hazardous, but care should
largely, a permanent pigment, its body and be used in handling the
hiding power are stronger than those of
dry powder pigment to
cadmium red. However in the presence of
avoid inhaling the dust.
hydrogen sulphides and sun light the
pigment reacts chemically darkening to a MSDS: Kremer
black. Although it is a sulphide, it is so
inert that it does not darken lead white
when they are mixed and as a result they
have often been mixed for flesh tints.

Literature:

Faloon, D. B., Zinc Oxide History, Manufacture and Properties as a


Pigment, New York 1925
Artists' Pigments, A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics,
Vol. 1: R.L. Feller (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1986, p. 169-186

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