Lead white

[1]: 68 [4]: 89  In seventeenth century Holland, the "Dutch" or "stack" method of producing lead white improved slightly upon the ancient process through the additional step of sealing clay pots in a room filled with horse manure or waste tan bark, which provided a source of heat and carbon dioxide, yielding basic lead carbonate through the combined action of the acetic vapors, carbonic acid, and heat.

Until the twentieth century, this highly versatile pigment was used in numerous applications, including enamel for ceramic tableware and bathroom fittings, house paints, and wallpapers.

[1]: 68–69 [2]: 44  In modern times, titanium dioxide has largely taken the place of lead white due to safety concerns.

[2]: 44–46  In eighteenth-century Europe, upper-class men and women powdered their face and body with beauty products to accentuate their white complexion as a sign of their affluence.

[7]: 39–41  In other cultural contexts such as Greece, China, and Japan, white lead had long been a popular cosmetic foundation to make skin look smooth and pale.

In combination with blue, it appears often in depictions of the sky, and it is commonly used with red and brown pigments to create flesh tones.

[1]: 69  While lead white locked in a drying oil film and protected with varnish endures for centuries without blackening, it turns black when used in watercolor, as seen in the highlights of old master drawings, due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide in the air.

[1]: 71–72 The ubiquity of lead white for much of recorded history makes its occurrences in both western and non-western art widespread.