“Noir d’Allemagne. Nous saisons venir de Francfort, de Mayance, & de Strasbourg, un Noir en pierre & en poudre, qui est de lie de vin brûlée & jettée dans de l’eau & aprés avoir été seché on le passe dans des moulins faits expres, …”[23]
Other black pigments for watercolors were derived from charred vine lees, yeasts and pomace. Hoogstraten in 1678 refers to ‘gebrande wijndroesem of druif kernen’,[24] and in 1694 Pomet refers to burnt vine lees in the citation. This waste product of wine making gained later fame as Frankfurt black, widely employed as a pigment for intaglio printing ink.[25]
According to Krünitz, the pigment was traded via Frankfurt upon Main, a city with a century-long history of trade-fairs, hence the name. He points to the fact that the French got Frankfurt black via Frankfurt, Mainz or Strasbourg, which is in agreement with the statements of Pomet. Krünitz reveals that the black pigment was actually produced down the river Main, in Kitzingen, a protestant city in Franken, close to Würzburg, a region still famous for its white wine production. We also learn from Krünitz how the production process took place in detail. The wine yeasts that remained in the vessel after the distillation of brandy (the Italians make Grappa of it), are poured onto a coarse stretched cloth so that all remaining liquid can run off. The residues are then pressed into balls and left to dry in the air or in the sun. These dry balls are inserted into pots; the pots are covered with well-fitting lids, carefully glued with clay, put into a potter’s oven and burnt with the other goods. After taking it out, the vine-yeast has burnt to a completely black charcoal, the so called ‘Frankfurt black’.[26]
[23] “Black from Germany. It comes from Frankfurt, Mainz, & Strasbourg, as black stone & powder, which is burnt wine lees & thrown in water & after being dried we pass it through special mills”, in: Pomet. 1694. Histoire générale des drogues, traitant des plantes, des animaux. Livre VII, Chapt. LXXII: p. 256.
[241] ‘burnt vine pomace or vine kernels’ In: Hoogstraaten. 1678. Inleyding Tot de Hooge Schoole Der Schilderkonst: p. 221.
[25] Stijnman. 2010. Frankfurt Black: p. 415–425.
[26] Krünitz. 1801. Oekonomisch-Technologische Encyklopädie, Vol. 56: p. 231.
[23] “Black from Germany. It comes from Frankfurt, Mainz, & Strasbourg, as black stone & powder, which is burnt wine lees & thrown in water & after being dried we pass it through special mills”, in: Pomet. 1694. Histoire générale des drogues, traitant des plantes, des animaux. Livre VII, Chapt. LXXII: p. 256.
[23] “Black from Germany. It comes from Frankfurt, Mainz, & Strasbourg, as black stone & powder, which is burnt wine lees & thrown in water & after being dried we pass it through special mills”, in: Pomet. 1694. Histoire générale des drogues, traitant des plantes, des animaux. Livre VII, Chapt. LXXII: p. 256.
[25] Stijnman. 2010. Frankfurt Black: p. 415–425.
[25] Stijnman. 2010. Frankfurt Black: p. 415–425.