Marine paint colors in the 19th Century

[Kenchington]

Does anyone know of a source for information on the range of colours (cheaply) available in marine paints by the end of the 19th Century?

 

I'm not after the colour of antifouling, which was the familiar red shade that long remained in use. Nor am I after the variety of colours that could be used in interiors, nor even those that (at great expense) could pick out details of a warship's carvings. My present interest is in the paint that a fisherman might apply to the topsides and other above-water, exterior surfaces of his boat. And I am after paint colours, not oiling of bare wood.

 

For the later 18th Century (and passing over colours that don't fit my criteria), Jean Boudriot lists only white (a creamy off-white, based on white lead), black (based on lamp black), red ochre and yellow ochre. A hundred years later, English fishing boats could be finished in "black varnish" (which wasn't what we would now call a varnish), while green seems to have been popular in some areas (though rejected as "unlucky" elsewhere!). The early 20th Century brought a much wider variety of pigments, of course.

 

I'm just after some authoritative source on what might have been affordable circa 1875--1900.

 

Trevor

[JacquesCousteau]

Very good question, hopefully someone has a good answer! I think that looking at paintings of the subject, period, and place might be a good start. At the very least, it would probably give you an idea of typical paint schemes. Of course, that will only get you so far as artists undoubtedly changed the exact shade to capture different lighting conditions, express different moods, and fulfill other artistic purposes, but comparing several paintings may allow you to triangulate something like the original.

[Kenchington]

And a good suggestion, JC!

 

A quick look at Winslow Homer's paintings (about right for time and place, for my Muscongus Bay sloop) doesn't show much beyond the colours available a century before. He did add some rather muted blue and, in at least one painting, dashes of brighter blue and red.

 

The sloop's topsides must be white (confirmed by multiple black-and-white photos). It's looking like the trim will be black, red ochre or a combination of those. Larger inboard surfaces maybe yellow ochre and/or neutral grey (supposedly from mixed white lead and lampblack paints -- though actually from a bottle of grey!). That will be muted and somber but probably realistic.

 

Trevor

[druxey]

Also, when painting a model, one needs to take into account scale and typical viewing distance. Colors may appear more muted in a model than on the prototype ship.

[Capt. Kelso]

Here's an old chart I have. The quality of the copy is not very good; Hull Cream is not yellow! But it may provide some reference. May want to consider the colors used on whaleboats and Dory boats of that time period.

 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

Here's another good record of late 18th century color chips:

[wefalck]

That would be the subject of a book that I wanted to write for a long time (being a geochemist by training).

 

You are absolutely right, that certain pigments were too expensive for rough shipboard use and others would not have been sufficiently lightfast. So, Boudriots list is a good starting point, as it mainly contains natural earth pigments that meet both requirements, beeing cheap and being stable.

 

One would need to precise which decades of the 19th century we are talking about, as the pigment industry rapidly evolved in the course of the century. The evolving (industrial) chemistry led to the capability of synthesing certain pigments and thus becoming independent from the varying quality of natural mineral pigments. The increasing availability of by-products from coal-gasification from the 1840s on, lead also to the development of tar- and phenol-based artificial pigments towards the end of the 19th century.

 

Interestingly, while the range and availability of pigments increased, from the 1860s on, ships became more sombre in livery, with black and white dominating, with the exception of spars and funnels that were ochre. Between the 1820 and the 1860s, ships were often quite colourful, with inside bulwarks, deckhouses, and the tips of spars painted in pastel ochre, green, or blue. With these pastel colours, a small amount of pigment could go a long way, when mixed with a white base pigment.

 

BTW, the off- or dirty white mentioned in the literature is due to cheap and not very well refined lineseed oil and resins that yellows upon oxidation. This also makes coloured pigments dull.

 

And from the mid-1860s on commercial antifouling paints in a variety of colours became available, not only in red ochre, but also in greens, blues, and browns.

 

 

 

[Kenchington]

That's a wonderful explanation, @wefalck!

 

I dare say that I will come back to this question from time to time but my immediate interest is circa 1890. However, it is also on Down-East Maine, which may then have been a generation behind developments in the cities of the USA. (Nova Scotia was at least that far behind.) I think I am safe ground with the earth pigments. 

 

Green might be another option but that was forbidden on fishing boats in some areas, as being unlucky. I can't say whether lobstermen in Maine shared that superstition but I don't have to justify not using a particular colour.

 

Trevor

[wefalck]

There may be an element of truth that 'green' was considered unlucky. A common pigment, that was first synthesised in 1802 is Schweinfurt Green, which is copper(II)-arseniteacetate and is poisenous. It was widely used, even in the manufacture of wallpaper and home-paints. In the country of its origin, the pigment was forbidden already in 1882, but its use in antifouling paints permitted. 

[druxey]

Apparently this toxic green was also used in book covers for a while....

[Harvey Golden]

The Historic American Merchant Marine Survey volumes have a few color plates in them-- rendered artistically by the surveyors. I don't recall which volume, but they show a nice though not extensive range of colors on various parts of certain boats (fishing craft and/or coasters from the 19th C, [though undoubtedly 'touched-up' by the time of the survey] if I recall). 

Best, 

H-

[Kenchington]

1 hour ago, Harvey Golden said:

Historic American Merchant Marine Survey

That's something that I had never even heard of! 

 

Thank you, Harvey: I will have to try for a library copy somewhere as it does not seem to be available on-line.

 

Trevor

[wefalck]

... It says 18 cubic feet of records.

[Harvey Golden]

7 hours ago, Kenchington said:

That's something that I had never even heard of! 

You're in for a BIG treat, then! They're hard to find; hoping your local maritime museum may have a set.