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Black Earth a new Pigment lately discovered near the Lehigh, Nazareth

Object Status:

Unlocated

Accession Date:

January 1, 1806

Primary Source Reference:

Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 11

Notes:

Peale was present at a meeting of the American Philosophical Society on 17 May 1805 when a specimen of "Black Earth, a new coloring substance, from the banks of the Lehigh near Nazareth" was received as a donation.

Black carbonaceous shale from the Nazareth area was used in the production of black paint. Benjamin LeRoy Miller, Topographic and Geologic Atlas of Pennsylvania, No. 206, Allentown Quadrangle ([Harrisburg], 1925), p. 157