Breaking bad pigments: unmasking the false origins of cadmium yellow

This study investigates the earliest documented occurrences of cadmium pigments through chemical analysis of nine historical pigment samples dated 1836, 1838, and 1851. Cadmium sulphide (CdS), though proposed as a pigment shortly after cadmium’s discovery in 1817, is not materially verified in any surviving samples prior to the mid-nineteenth century. SEM-EDX, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and UV–NIR reflectance were used to analyse pigment specimens from Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge’s Einleitung in die technische Chemie für Jedermann (1836) and Technische Chemie der nützlichsten Metalle für Jedermann (1838), alongside a documented Reeves & Sons watercolour set dated 3rd February 1851. Contrary to Runge’s textual descriptions claiming cadmium oxide and cadmium sulphide preparations, none of the 1836–1838 swatches contained detectable cadmium. Instead, the samples were found to contain lead chromate (PbCrO₄), basic zinc carbonates (Zn₅(CO₃)₂(OH)₆), and copper-chromate phases. In contrast, the Reeves & Sons 1851 samples contain barium chromate (BaCrO₄) and unequivocal cadmium sulphide representing the earliest currently verified material evidence of cadmium pigment production (earlier documentary references predate the earliest analytically confirmed sample of 8 March 1851). These results clarify the historical timeline of cadmium yellow, demonstrate that early printed references do not correspond to actual cadmium-based materials, and provide the first analytical verification of pigment substitutions in Runge’s colour plates.

© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
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