The color Ocher is the designation of a standard yellow-orange, semi-light and moderate saturation color, which is based on the chromatic appearance of the yellow ocher pigment ( hydrated iron oxide). Being a standard color, it is standardized and appears in color catalogs and guides. Colors close to standard ocher are called ocher.
- By ocher we mean the colors brownish yellow, yellowish brown and light yellowish brown.
- Many artist paint colors have been, and still bear, the name “ocher”; some of these are imitations of old pictorial ocher achieved with other ingredients.
Summary
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- 1 Etymology
- 2 History
- 3 Uses and objects
- 4 References
Etymology
- From the Latin ochra, and this from the Greek ὤχρα ṓchra, from ὠχρός ōchrós ‘yellow’.
History
Red ocher was widely used in ancient times. There is evidence of it in wall paintings from the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük and in the decoration of the ceramics of the Hacilar culture, dating from 5300 BC. C..2
In the classical world, the common denomination of red ocher was rubrica (in Latin) and miltos (in Greek). Pliny, Vitruvius and Theophrastus mention a particularly appreciated red ocher which they call sinoper or sinopia, according to Theophrastus because it came from the port of Sinopia, in Pontus (Anatolia). However, this was only the place where it was shipped for commercialization. Strabo, a native of Pontus, clarifies the origin of this “synopic” land by indicating that it was actually mined in Cappadocia, also a source of yellow ocher.3
Uses and objects
Ocher is the name that is typically applied to an earthy mineral consisting of hydrated iron oxide, which is often mixed with clay, and which is usually yellowish, orange or reddish.
“Ocher” is also the designation for the color of yellowish earthy minerals resulting from the oxidation of metalliferous ores where iron does not intervene, such as ocher of antimony, bismuth or nickel.
Ocher has traditionally been used as a pigment for artistic painting and for body painting, and its use dates back to prehistoric times.
