Forbes Color Collection

The color pigments from the Forbes Collection include materials that are toxic, exotic, and vibrant, including Mummy Brown, Singularity Black, and Dragon's Blood.

"Among those relics is Dragon’s Blood, reputed in antiquity and in the Middle Ages to have got its vividness from the wounds of dragons and elephants locked in mortal combat. The pigment actually owed its intense redness to the resin secreted from trees growing on the islands of Socotra and Sumatra, especially the rattan palm and the Dracaena draco."  

Read more: Treasures from the Color Archive: The historic pigments in the Forbes Collection include the esoteric, the expensive, and the toxic. By Simon Schama

Thanks, Bryn