Cypriot Raw Umber

Description

Cypriot Raw Umber is a handmade single earth pigment produced through the ancient process of grinding raw earth. Rich in iron and manganese oxides, this pigment produces a natural deep brown with a cool, slightly greenish undertone. Its high tinting strength and quick-drying properties make it an essential color for painters working in oil, watercolor, tempera, and acrylic.

Cypriot Raw Umber has exceptional lightfastness, making it highly durable for both classical and contemporary artwork. It blends seamlessly with other earth pigments, offering cool, naturalistic shadows and depth in painting. Its semi-opaque quality allows for excellent glazing, layering, and subtle tonal adjustments. Compared to synthetic browns, it provides a softer, more organic appearance, ideal for landscape, portrait, and figure painting.

History

Umber has been used as a pigment since prehistoric times, with early cave paintings showing evidence of earth-based browns. The natural abundance of umber in Cyprus made it a major source of high-quality pigments for millennia.

During antiquity, Cypriot Raw Umber was widely used by Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artists for wall paintings, frescoes, and ceramics. Its cool brown hue was ideal for shading and providing depth in artistic compositions. In the pictured artwork 'The Death of Actaeon' by Titian, umbers are used to create the rich brown shadows and foliage throughout creating the warm undertone.

In the Renaissance, raw umber became an essential pigment for painters like Titian, Rembrandt, and Velázquez, who used it for underpainting and neutral shadows. Its natural drying properties made it particularly useful in oil painting, where it helped speed up the drying of slower pigments.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, Cyprus remained the leading producer of umber in the Mediterranean, supplying European artists with high-quality brown pigments. It was commonly used in academic painting techniques, particularly for sketching, glazing, and figure painting.

Today, Cypriot Raw Umber continues to be an indispensable pigment in fine art and conservation, maintaining its historical reputation for stability and natural warmth.

Health and Safety

Precautions:  
Keep out of reach of children and pets.  
Do not consume.  
Not for cosmetic or food usage.  
Do not spray apply.  
For further health information contact a poison control center.  
Use care when handling dry pigments and avoid dust formation.  
Use particular caution with fibrous, fine, or toxic pigments.  
Do not eat, drink, or smoke near dry pigments.  
Avoid breathing in pigment dust and use a NIOSH-certified dust respirator with sufficient rating for dry pigment.  
Wash hands immediately after use or handling.  
If dust is likely, always wear protective clothing to keep out of eyes, lungs, off skin, and out of any contact as well as keep area ventilated.  
This product may contain chemicals known by the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm.  
Warnings and bottle information are abbreviated.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Natural (Iron and Manganese Oxide) from minerals (Goethite and Manganite) (Cyprus)  
Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic  
Lightfastness: Best  
Opacity: Semi-opaque  
Other Names: Cyprus Umber, Mediterranean Raw Umber, Earth Brown  
Color Index Code: PBr7
Image: 'The Death of Actaeon' by Titian from the National Gallery