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Mercadium Red

PR113

Alternate Names

Cadmium Vermilion Red Light

Medium or Deep

Pigment Description

Mercadium Red. An extinct pigment which deserves a side note as a super-lightfast red. We'd call it very toxic (artiscreation gives it their most extreme rating, a D meaning, "Extremely Toxic, only attempt working with these pigments (especially the dry form) in laboratory like conditions with proper safety equipment " which frankly sounds scary and would make it a terrible pigment to work with. More information can be found in the Artist's Guide to Health and Safety on pigments containing cadmium and mercury (and possibly barium depending on the formulation). Author Monona Rossol’s updated work can be found through her site.

While cadmium reds have excellent lightfastness in general, this one is famous for having even more lightfastness in a test of extended light exposure done by Virgil Elliott. At one time Vasari offered this as a color, which they called Cadmium Vermilion Red Light, however they no longer carry it.

Resources

PR113 pigment data from David G. Myers, The Color of Art Pigment Database, Artiscreation.com,

Elliott, Virgil. Traditional Oil Painting. Echo Point Books & Media, LLC, 2019. https://amzn.to/4nwIdzq,

Information about PR113 isofar as it is a cadmium from Handprint but bear in mind it also contains mercury,

Vasari Classic Artists' Oil Colors (n.d., page from 2016, July 7). Cadmium Vermilion Red Light https://web.archive.org/web/20160707032626/http://vasaricolors.com/collections/red-violet/products/cadmium-vermilion-red-light. Internet Archive. Vasari Classic Artists' Oil Colors,

Rossol, Monona. The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide. New York, NY : Allworth Press, 2001. The book is rather dated, updated information is available from her website.

Stats

Lightfastness

Excellent

Virgil Elliott’s long-term window tests showed that this unusual variation of cadmium red retained its color after many years in the sun. Cadmium reds in general have excellent lightfastness and this one was even more enduring than PR108s.

Transparency

Opaque

Toxicity

Extremely Toxic.

This has the most severe warning from ArtisCreation. He ascribes a D to this pigment meaning its toxicity is extreme and it is so toxic that it should only be worked with in a laboratory setting with the proper safety protocols. We are not experts in health and safety so please supplement this with your own third party research and manufacturer SDS information.

Chemical Name

Concentrated cadmium mercury sulfide (CC) with 15% or less barium sulfate

Dry Pigments listing PR113

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