140 Bice
:
ON THE PRIMARY, BLUE.
Blue Bice, Iris, Terre Bleu, was prepared, when true, from the Armenian
stone, which is a calcareous kind of stone coloured with copper. It was
of a light bright hue, but is completely superseded by pale ultramarine.
The Persian lazur appears to have been a similar pigment, being a sort
of copper ore, which, when the stone was pounded and sifted, furnished a
fine paint, very bright and pleasant. It could not, however, stand the
effects of the atmosphere like the Tartarian lazur or lapis lazuli, in
the course of time becoming of a dark and dismal colour.
Ground smalts, blue verditer, and other pigments, have passed under the
name of bice.