One of the benefits of being a collector of Antique Artists items is that I have had the great fortune to come across such wonderfully rare and truly beautiful items as this. This is a block or cake as they are sometimes called of the real thing, Genuine Indian Yellow. I’m sure the knowledgeable and sensitive people like the people who visit my pages will need no real introduction to genuine Indian Yellow.
 
However you will forgive me I hope if I just say that this is one of the rarest and beautiful colours that the painter could hope to add to there box of colours. Only by finding a genuine antique block such as this can the artist of today hope to work with it.
 
This particular block was made by Winsor and Newton of London around 1850 to 1860
This particular maker in association with this colour makes it even rarer. Normally I would expect to see the name of the great James Newman on the block but this one is very different and in over 40 years of collecting it is the only one I have ever seen.
Winsor and Newton were at the time justly famous for the quality of their colours and many other things such as their wonderful paint boxes.
 
Winsor and Newton were founded in the early 1830s and were from the start a seemingly ambitious company and this approach really paid off for soon they were in contact with the world. It was in India that this wonderful colour was sourced.
I doubt if anyone really knows where the colour comes from and it is still shrouded in mystery. And who doesn’t love a mystery especially one that provides something as beautiful as this.
The good news is that this is your chance to work with this genuine and wonderful colour.
 
This colour to me is almost miraculous in that in block form as here it can look a bit dull but touch it with the tiniest drops of water and it literally comes to life with a wonderful yellow, a lot like the sun appearing from behind a dark cloud.
 
You may be reassured to know that I performed the tiniest drop of water test on this block and it truly sprang into life.
It is a wonderful example and around 5mm thick so there is a lot of life in this lovely thing.