verdigris, oxide of copper (rāsuḫt), saffron, lapis lazuli

Ingredients

verdigris, oxide of copper (rāsuḫt), saffron, ammoniac (salmiak), gum arabic, rose water, alkali salt, Yemeni alum, vinegar, quicksilver, child urine, eggplant water

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

For green: Extraction from verdigris using rose water or vinegar. A complex green/yellow mixture uses two parts alkali salt, half part Yemeni alum, and half part strong/curled gum arabic; this is dissolved in vinegar, boiled, cooled, and processed in three cycles (p. 335). Another green for gold/silver uses one part verdigris and one part quicksilver pounded with child urine (p. 336). For yellow: Rose water with dissolved saffron. For oxide of copper (rāsuḫt) preparation: Two ounces of ammoniac, one ounce of oxide of copper, half ounce gum arabic, and half dirham saffron are pounded in a stone mortar with vinegar until dissolved (p. 336).

Evidence

"As for the green extracted from verdigris, rose water gives it a good smell, and also the water extracted from vinegar, oxide of copper (rāsuḫt), ‘eagle’, gum arabic, and saffron."

Remarks

The 'eagle' mentioned in the text is identified by the researcher as an alchemical deckname for Salmiak (sal ammoniacus) (p. 335, note 88). Rose water is explicitly recommended to improve the smell and quality of lapis lazuli and white pigments (p. 336).