INDIAN BLACK
First described by the naturalist Pliny the Elder around the middle of the First Century CE, alongside black dyes obtained from burnt ivory (“elephantinon”) and cuttlefish (“sæpia”), he simply says: “We have indicum also, a substance imported from India, the composition of which is at present unknown to me.” The pigment is in fact a dried and powdered clay, traditionally used as a house paint, or mixed with size (dissolved starch) to make Indian ink.True Indian black was later replaced with crushed charcoal as a more readily available alternative.
