carbon-based black pigment, pink ink, mustard yellow ink, blue ink, lilac-colored ink

Ingredients

carbon-based black, orpiment, red lead, vermilion, pararealgar, lazurite, fuchsia crystals

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Mustard yellow ink was found to be a mixture of yellow, red and orange crystals with occasional blue particles; identified components include orpiment, vermilion, red lead, and lazurite (p. 1489). Pink ink is a mixture of lemon yellow, yellow, crimson and orange particles, containing orpiment, red lead, vermilion, pararealgar, and an arsenic precursor (p. 1489). Lilac ink consists of lazurite mixed with fluorescent fuchsia crystals, likely an organic pigment or dye (p. 1488). Paler blue ink is a mixture of lazurite and a white, translucent pigment with a peak at 1085 cm1 (p. 1488).

Evidence

"The most common black ink being identified as a carbon-based black pigment by the presence of two broad bands at ca 1580 and 1325 cm1. (p. 1488) ... A lilac-coloured ink was a mixture of lazurite crystals with fuchsia-coloured crystals. (p. 1488) ... It is likely that these pigment mixtures were used on purpose to obtain a precise hue, as it is very common in manuscripts of this period to have selected text written in pink or yellow ink. (p. 1489)"

Remarks

Black ink was used for the Persian verse translations written in nasta'liq script, while larger Arabic text was written in colored inks (p. 1483). The fuchsia crystals in the lilac ink did not yield a Raman spectrum due to strong fluorescence, suggesting organic origin (p. 1488). Page 1489 notes that the intermediate phase of realgar degradation (chi-phase) was also present in these mixtures.