Manganese Black

Description

Manganese Black (PBk14) is a handmade single-pigment black based on manganese dioxide. It produces a deep, natural black with a subtle brown–violet undertone and a dense, matte masstone. Compared to carbon blacks (like Lamp or Ivory Black), Manganese Black feels more mineral and less sooty, with a quieter, stone-like presence; compared to Mars Black (PBk11), it is a touch warmer and often slightly more transparent in tints, giving more nuanced, chromatic darks instead of flat, opaque black.

In use, Manganese Black gives a strong, controlled black ideal for stone, wood, tree bark, architectural shadows, moody skies, and low-key passages in landscape and figurative work. It has moderate to strong tinting strength with a semi-opaque character, allowing it to lay down as a solid dark in masstone while still building luminous, layered veils in thinner washes or glazes. It mixes beautifully with yellows and earths for warm olives and smoky browns, with reds for deep wine-browns and umber-like neutrals, and with blues for complex, cool near-blacks and atmospheric grays that stay rich rather than harsh or chalky.

This manganese dioxide pigment is chemically stable, heat-resistant, and highly resistant to acids and alkalis, which makes it suitable across a wide range of binders and mediums. In artist’s colors it offers a distinctive mineral black that can serve as a primary neutral on the palette or as a characterful alternative to both iron-oxide and carbon blacks, especially for work that emphasizes natural surfaces, weathered materials, and subtle chromatic shadows.

History

Manganese compounds have been used since antiquity in glass, ceramics, and dark pigments. Manganese dioxide appears in some of the earliest known uses of black and very dark brown, including prehistoric markings and early glazes, and was long valued in glassmaking for its ability to neutralize the green cast of iron impurities.

With the rise of industrial chemistry in the 19th and 20th centuries, refined manganese oxides were produced for use in ceramics, enamels, batteries, anti-corrosive paints, and dark industrial coatings. From this family of materials, Manganese Black (PBk14) emerged as a technically robust, mineral black suitable for artist paints—offering excellent stability, a subtly warm undertone, and a matte, natural appearance distinct from glossy carbon blacks. Today PBk14 appears in select professional ranges and specialty colors, appreciated by painters who want a deep black with a strong mineral identity and a long-standing connection to ceramic and industrial color traditions.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Synthetic (Inorganic) manganese dioxide black

Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic, Lime / Fresco, Ceramic and cement applications

Lightfastness: Best

Opacity: Semi-opaque

Other Names: Manganese Black, Manganese Dioxide Black, PBk14

Color Index Code: PBk14