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The macabre 19th-century use of "Mummy Brown," a popular painters' pigment literally manufactured from ground-up ancient Egyptian remains.

2026-04-08 12:01 UTC

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Provide a detailed explanation of the following topic: The macabre 19th-century use of "Mummy Brown," a popular painters' pigment literally manufactured from ground-up ancient Egyptian remains.

The history of art is filled with strange and toxic materials—from deadly lead whites to arsenic-laced greens—but few pigments possess a backstory as genuinely morbid as Mummy Brown. Also known as Mommia or Caput Mortuum (though the latter term was also used for synthetic iron oxides), Mummy Brown was a rich, bituminous pigment that was exactly what its name suggested: paint manufactured from the pulverized remains of ancient Egyptian mummies.

Peaking in popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries, the story of Mummy Brown is a bizarre intersection of colonialism, grave-robbing, and fine art.

The Origins: From Medicine to the Canvas

The European consumption of mummies did not begin in the art studio, but in the apothecary. Beginning in the Middle Ages, Europeans mistakenly believed that mummia—a substance found in embalmed Egyptian bodies—possessed miraculous medicinal properties. For centuries, ground-up mummies were ingested to cure everything from stomach ulcers to epilepsy.

By the 16th and 17th centuries, as the medical fad began to wane, artists discovered that the powdered remains produced a uniquely beautiful pigment. The trade simply shifted from the pharmacy to the artist's colorman. Driven by the 19th-century craze of "Egyptomania"—a European fascination with all things ancient Egypt following Napoleon’s campaigns—thousands of mummies (both human and feline) were excavated, shipped to Europe, and sold to paint manufacturers.

The Manufacturing Process and Color

To make Mummy Brown, paint makers would grind up the entire mummy—flesh, bones, and the linen wrappings. This morbid powder was then mixed with white pitch, myrrh, and drying oils.

The resulting pigment was a rich, warm, transparent brown, falling somewhere between raw umber and burnt sienna.

Why Did 19th-Century Artists Love It?

Mummy Brown became a staple on the palettes of many prominent 19th-century painters, particularly among the British Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It possessed specific qualities that made it highly desirable: * Transparency: It was perfect for "glazing," a technique where thin, transparent layers of paint are applied over dried layers to create deep, luminous shadows. * Flesh Tones: Ironically, artists found that the warm undertones of Mummy Brown were ideal for painting human skin and shading flesh. * Handling: It flowed beautifully off the brush and mixed well with other colors.

Famous painters known or suspected to have used Mummy Brown include Eugène Delacroix, Martin Drolling (who allegedly used the remains of French royalty interred at Saint-Denis), and Pre-Raphaelite artists like Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Edward Burne-Jones.

The Macabre Turning Point

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of Mummy Brown is that many 19th-century artists had no idea what they were using. Paint names are often fanciful—"Elephant’s Breath" or "Dragon’s Blood," for instance—and many painters assumed "Mummy Brown" was simply a clever marketing name for a shade of dirt.

The horror of realization is best captured in a famous anecdote from 1881. The painter Edward Burne-Jones was having lunch with fellow artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema and the poet Robert Browning. When Alma-Tadema casually mentioned that the paint was made from actual dead pharaohs, Burne-Jones was horrified. He immediately left the table, retrieved his tube of Mummy Brown from his studio, and gave it a respectful burial in his garden.

The Decline and Extinction of the Pigment

Mummy Brown eventually disappeared from artists' palettes for several reasons:

  1. A Shift in Ethics: As the science of archaeology developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, public attitudes toward Egyptian remains shifted from viewing them as commodities to respecting them as historical artifacts and human remains.
  2. Unpredictability: Because the pigment was literally made of organic matter of varying ages and embalming recipes, it was chemically unstable. It had a tendency to crack, dry poorly, and occasionally fade over time. Ammonia and fat from the bodies sometimes ruined the surrounding paint.
  3. They Ran Out of Mummies: The primary reason for the pigment's demise was supply chain failure. By the 20th century, the Egyptian government cracked down on the export of antiquities, and the readily available supply of mummies dried up.

The final nail in the coffin came in 1964. The managing director of C. Roberson & Co., a historic London colorman that had manufactured the paint for decades, famously told Time magazine: "We might have a few odd limbs lying around somewhere, but we don't have enough to make any more paint."

Legacy

Today, "Mummy Brown" can still be purchased in art supply stores, but modern iterations are created using a mixture of synthetic hematite, quartz, and kaolin—entirely free of human remains. However, the legacy of the original pigment lives on in museums around the world. When you look at the deep, warm shadows in a 19th-century masterpiece, there is a very real chance you are looking at the pulverized remains of an ancient Egyptian.

Mummy Brown: When Ancient Egyptian Corpses Became Paint

What Was Mummy Brown?

Mummy Brown (also called Caput Mortuum or Egyptian Brown) was a rich, warm brown pigment used by European artists from roughly the 16th through early 20th centuries. As its disturbingly literal name suggests, it was made by grinding up actual Egyptian mummies—both human and feline—mixing the desiccated remains with white pitch and myrrh to create a paint pigment.

The Manufacturing Process

The pigment was created by: 1. Obtaining mummified remains (both human and animal) from Egypt 2. Grinding the desiccated flesh, bones, and linen wrappings into a fine powder 3. Mixing this powder with binders like white pitch and myrrh 4. Processing it into a usable paint or pigment

The result was a translucent brown with a distinctive warm, golden undertone that proved popular for glazes, shadows, and flesh tones.

Historical Context: The Mummy Trade

Egyptian Plundering

By the 19th century, Egyptian mummies had become shockingly common commodities in Europe:

  • Colonial exploitation: Egypt's colonization made ancient artifacts easily accessible to European traders
  • Abundant supply: Thousands of years of Egyptian burial practices meant mummies were, at the time, relatively plentiful
  • Low perceived value: Ancient human remains were treated as curiosities rather than with respect for the deceased

Multiple Uses for Mummies

Painting wasn't even the strangest use for Egyptian remains:

  • Medicine: "Mummia" (powdered mummy) was sold as a cure-all medicine from the Middle Ages onward
  • Entertainment: "Unwrapping parties" were fashionable Victorian events where mummies were ceremonially unwrapped before audiences
  • Fertilizer: Some mummies were ground up for agricultural use
  • Fuel: Mark Twain reported (perhaps apocryphally) that mummies were used as locomotive fuel due to wood scarcity

Artists and Mummy Brown

Popularity Among Artists

The pigment was valued for its particular qualities: - Transparency: Excellent for glazing techniques - Warm undertones: Ideal for shadows and flesh tones - Good drying properties: Handled well in oil painting - Distinctive color: A unique brown that was difficult to replicate

Notable Users

Several prominent artists are believed to have used Mummy Brown:

  • Pre-Raphaelite painters: Members of this movement reportedly used it
  • Edward Burne-Jones: Allegedly buried his tube of Mummy Brown after learning its true origins
  • Lawrence Alma-Tadema: May have used it in his Egyptian-themed paintings
  • Martin Drolling: French artist known to have used the pigment

The Decline of Mummy Brown

Growing Awareness and Disgust

The pigment's decline came from several factors:

Artists' Reactions: Perhaps the most famous story involves Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones who, upon learning what his "Mummy Brown" truly contained, was horrified. According to the account, he held a burial ceremony for his tube of paint in his garden, recognizing that he'd been using human remains in his art.

Supply Problems: By the late 19th and early 20th centuries: - Readily accessible mummies were becoming scarce - Egyptian authorities began restricting the export of antiquities - The supply couldn't meet demand as archaeological awareness grew

Changing Ethics

  • Archaeological consciousness: Growing recognition of Egyptian artifacts' historical value
  • Ethical concerns: Increased discomfort with using human remains as art supplies
  • Cultural sensitivity: Emerging awareness about respecting other cultures' sacred practices

Discontinuation

By the early 20th century, the pigment had largely disappeared from catalogs:

  • C. Roberson & Co., a London art supplier, reportedly ran out of mummies to grind in the 1960s
  • The last known production was probably in the early-to-mid 20th century
  • Modern "Mummy Brown" or "Egyptian Brown" pigments are synthetic recreations

Modern Perspective

Cultural and Ethical Issues

From today's viewpoint, Mummy Brown represents:

  1. Colonial exploitation: The casual plundering of Egyptian cultural heritage
  2. Dehumanization: Treating human remains as mere raw materials
  3. Cultural insensitivity: Disregarding the sacred burial practices of another civilization
  4. Historical blindness: The inability to recognize the historical value of these artifacts

Lessons and Legacy

The history of Mummy Brown offers insights into:

  • How colonial attitudes enabled the destruction of irreplaceable historical artifacts
  • The evolution of archaeological ethics and cultural heritage protection
  • The sometimes uncomfortable relationship between art and its materials
  • How practices once considered normal can become unthinkable as values evolve

Interesting Footnotes

Uncertainties

Some art historians debate how widespread Mummy Brown's use actually was: - Some artists may not have known what their pigment contained - "Mummy Brown" may sometimes have been a marketing name for other brown pigments - Documentation of actual mummy content is sometimes lacking

The Irony

Perhaps the greatest irony is that the ancient Egyptians went to extraordinary lengths to preserve their dead for eternity—mummifying bodies to ensure immortality—only to have many of these carefully preserved remains ground up for paint, medicine, and fertilizer by later civilizations who viewed them as mere curiosities.

Mummy Brown remains a striking example of how artistic practices reflect the ethics and values of their time, and how dramatically those values can shift. What was once an unremarkable art supply is now viewed as a disturbing chapter in both art history and the history of archaeology—a literal dead end in the development of painting pigments.

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