madder lake

American  

noun

1. a strong purple-red color.

2. a pigment of this color formerly obtained from the madder root, characterized chiefly by lack of permanence.

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Etymology

Origin of madder lake

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

He identified pigments that had originally covered the sculpture: Egyptian blue mixed into pinkish skin tones and the whites of the eyes; yellow and red ochre in the hair; rose-colored madder lake for the lips.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 22, 2018

Heightened by madder lake, it furnishes a glowing red, very useful in some descriptions of skies; and saddened by black, it gives low toned reds of good quality for buildings.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Salter, Thomas

If the liquid remain uncoloured on adding ammonia to an assumed madder lake, in all probability the pigment is genuine.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Salter, Thomas

Carmine, madder lake, ultramarine, and Indian yellow, cannot be prepared without perfectly pure water.

From A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spiritous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy by Accum, Friedrich Christian

Plate 11.—The sky, indigo and madder lake: the clouds varied with Nos.

From The Use of a Box of Colours In a Practical Demonstration on Composition, Light and Shade, and Colour. by Willson, Harry