Mummy Brown – the 16th century paint made from ground up mummies

Most people today would probably associate Egyptian mummies with museums. This is unsurprising, as many museums around the world, especially in Europe, have Egyptian mummies in them. Yet, if I were to say that real mummies can be found in paintings, it may be a little odd, to say the least.

Until relatively recently, Egyptian mummies, believe it or not, were used to produce a type of paint, which was called Mummy Brown, Mommia, or Momie. The main ingredient of this paint was, as you may have already guessed, ground up Egyptian mummies. This powder was mixed with white pitch and myrrh to produce a rich brown pigment.  It was first made in the 16th century, and became a popular colour amongst the Pre-Raphaelite painters of the mid-19^th century. For instance, it has been recorded that the British portraitist, Sir William Beechey, kept stocks of Mummy Brown. The French artist Martin Drölling also reputedly used Mummy Brown made with the remains of French kings disinterred from the royal abbey of St-Denis in Paris. It has been suggested that his ‘L’interieur d’une cuisine’ is an example of extensive use of the pigment.